By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

THE NMI women’s beach volleyball team may be the youngest among the sand spikers who will be competing in the 2007 South Pacific Games in Samoa and coach Russ Quinn is looking at this as a positive factor.
Melissa Halaby and Nina Mosley, who are high school students at Saipan International School and Marianas Baptists Academy, respectively, are the island’s bets in the quadrennial meet.
“It is possible that Melissa and Nina would be the youngest competitors at the Pacific Games and I don’t think this will be too much of a negative factor because of their experience in the recent Marianas Cup, as well as in the qualifiers,” Quinn said.
The duo of Halaby and Mosley competed in six of the eight qualifiers. They had different partners in the first two trials.
In last month’s Marianas Cup, Halaby and Mosley were among the local players that played against US and Japanese pros.
“Both are fierce competitors and will sacrifice their bodies to go after the ball,” Quinn said.
“Melissa has been playing longer than Nina and has more ball control and skill. Nina is a fast learner who can really spike the ball. I see her as being a strong blocker as well,” he added.
As for their mental preparedness, the NMI coach hopes to build up the team’s communication on court.
“I think their communication on the court needs improvement. They tend to get quiet when things go badly. With just two people on the court, you need to constantly be talking to your partner, telling her what you see like a player on the other team is really tired, keep going there or the wind is at your back, take a little off your serve,” Quinn said.
“They also need to work on the tempo of the game. If things aren’t going well for them, slow it down, or if the other team is struggling, speed it up. These things will all improve with more court time,” added Quinn, who will work with the duo several times a week, as they have more than four months to prepare for the tournament.
The SPG will take place in August in Apia.
The SPG will be Halaby’s second regional tournament in two years. In 2005, she and Mili Saiki competed in the Mini South Pacific Games in Palau.
Mosley will be a first timer in beach volleyball competition, as she represented the NMI a couple of times in regional meets in swimming.
With the youthful Mosley and Halaby getting an opportunity to play in the SPG, Quinn is hoping that this will encourage other youth to be involved in the sport.
“I am hopeful that having Melissa and Nina represent the CNMI will spur interest in beach volleyball. My goal is to grow this sport and I believe we need to do that by bringing up the youth,” Quinn said.