NMIVA lines up several events until April

Toni Yamada eyes the ball as she prepares to set up teammate Alfredo Guevarra during last week’s 9th Annual Reverse Coed Grass volleyball tournament at the Capital Hill Ballfield.
(Jon Perez)

The Northern Mariana Islands Volleyball Association will be busy for the next three months with several beach volleyball events starting with this year’s Marianas Cup.

It will be Saipan’s turn to host the annual tournament, where Beijing Olympic gold medalist Phil Dalhausser and American pro Paul Baxter used to play, after the competition was held in Guam last year.

The Marianas Cup Beach Volleyball Festival is set from April 1 to 3 with the Marianas Junior Cup to be held in Guam the week after on April 8 and 9. The Saipan Kids Cup will happen simultaneously with the Junior Cup.

Last year, Saipan’s Tyler Willsey and Japanese pro Takahasi Tsuchiya ruled the Pro-Am event at Ypao Beach in Guam after a 21-19 win over Russ Quinn and Kosuke Sato in the finals , while hometown bet Tatiana Sablan and Anna Vidal clinched the women’s crown with a 21-17 triumph over the Japanese pair of Nozomi Yanagi and Anna Miyakawa.

Saipan-born Misaki Cramer and Andrew Johnson downed T.J. Eina and Nak Nakashima in the finals, 21-17, while Zena Demapan and Phalai Frink defeated Nicole Arenovski and Adele Hudkins, 21-11 to rule their respective divisions in last year’s Marianas Junior Cup Under-19 Beach Volleyball Festival held at the Fiesta Resort’s beach side.

But before NMIVA gets busy in organizing the Marianas Cup, it will first hold a two-on-two tournament for men’s and women’s dubbed For The Love of Volleyball on Valentine’s weekend on Feb. 13 and 14 at the Hyatt sand courts.

NMIVA will also conduct tryouts for the two men’s and women’s teams that would don the CNMI national colors in the 2017 Pacific Mini Games in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

NMIVA is fresh from organizing the 9th Annual Reverse Coed Grass volleyball tournament last Jan. 16 at the Capital Hill Ballfield.

Team Sloth ‘N’ Slugs ‘N’ Harmony bested 22 other squads to clinch the crown. The four-year partnership of Tyler Willsey and Christen Steinkuller proved to be the key factor as they ended the Cinderella bid of the Bumpin Uglies’ Toni Yamada and Alfredo Guevarra in the finals, 21-14.

Willsey and Steinkuller went undefeated in the one-day, double elimination round tournament to earn the first finals berth and the twice-to-beat edge that goes with it.

Tournament organizers Tyce Mister and Kathy Winkfield would like to thank their sponsors and partners Gold’s Gym Saipan, Pacific Trading Co., Shenanigan’s Restaurant, Swirls, Wild Bill’s Restaurant & Bar, Tropical Blendz, Elliott Systems, LLC, and NMIVA.

“I’m really happy with the event.  I liked the venue change and grateful for the gorgeous weather.  I think everyone had a fantastic time.  The volunteers were awesome and really appreciated,” said Mister.