By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

MARIANAS Cup first timers Angie Akers and Brooke Niles Hanson hope to be back next year after enjoying the warmth of the islanders and the enthusiasm shown by beach volleyball fans who attended last Friday’s clinic and their exhibition match against Japan at the Pacific Islands Club.
Local players, mostly students, joined PIC guests in attending the two-hour clinic Friday afternoon, while about a 100 spectators watched the exhibition matches.
“We really had fun here. The people are very nice and the sites our wonderful. You can do a lot of things besides playing beach volleyball,” Akers said after she and partner Hanson beat the Japanese tandem of Miho Makade and Sachie Oguri in the straight sets, 21-13, 21-16,
“I’ve never heard of Saipan before. But when I got here, I was surprised to see a beautiful island. It’s fun here. Not so crowded and no traffic. It was a great experience playing here,” Hanson said.
“If they want to bring us here again next year, we will be honored,” said Akers, who is hoping to bring along her husband Jeremy in her second Marianas Cup stint.
Akers said that besides being curious about what Saipan looks like and how popular beach volleyball is on the island, they agreed to play in the Marianas Cup to prepare for the AVP Tour.
Akers and Hanson will start their campaign in theAVP Tour in April and any tuneup games will help them gear up for the bigger things to come.
“The Japanese gave us a good fight. Although we won in straight sets, still they played well. They are very good,” Hanson said.
After the exhibition game, the four pro female players teamed up with local spikers in a double-elimination tournament held last Saturday and Sunday.
Kelly Butcher was paired with Akers, while South Pacific Mini Games Mili Saiki teamed up with Hanson.
Nikki Shyrack and Angie Mister were assigned to the two Japanese pros.
The pairings were decided via a raffle.
The same thing was implemented in the men’s division with four local players having a chance to play with US’s pros Paul Baxter and Adam Roberts and Hitoshi Yamamoto and Taichi Morikawa of Japan.
Roberts was the only first timer in the Marianas Cup.
The results of the tournament were unavailable at press time.