Australia topped both the men’s and women’s divisions with flawless wins, beating PNG, the NMI, and Guam in the three-day round robin event at Pacific Islands Club’s.
Papua New Guinea won second place in the men’s division. The NMI and PNG tied with six wins each in the ladies’ category, resulting in a tie-breaking ‘golden set’ played yesterday. Saipan’s very own Melody Matson and Amanda Clarkson fought off Papua New Guinea’s Diane Moia and Hazel Ruga, winning 15-12 and giving the NMI the chance to advance.
The CBVC’s Sub Zonal phase marks the start of a qualifying process ultimately leading to the 2012 London Olympic Games. The CBVC alone is broken down into subzone, zone, and continent finals.
Only top two teams from the male and female divisions (the NMI, Australia, and PNG) will proceed to the Oceania Zonal Tournament, which will be held later in the year. Date and venue will be determined at a later time, according Australian Volleyball Federation and Oceania Zonal Volleyball Federation president Chris Schacht.
Overall, eight athletes (four men and four women) represented Australia, PNG, and the NMI. Guam had only Meagan Crisostomo and Kristi Hammond compete in the ladies’ division, in addition to Chris Shepherd, Joshua Cruz, David Rillera Jr., and Brian Matanane.
Partners Amber Roberts and Tony Yamada also represented the NMI, along with Tyce Mister, Chris Nelson, Clay McCullough, and Andrew Nutting.
“It’s been a good experience. It’s my biggest competition so far,” said McCullough, a freshman at Saipan International School.
Nutting, his partner, felt the same way about the NMI’s first-ever Olympic-qualifying event.
“It was intimidating at first, but later on it was good fun and I got a lot of experience too,” added Nutting.
Australia’s dominant squad was composed of: Samuel Boehm, Joshua Slack, Isaac Kapa, Christopher McHugh, Louise Baldwin, Tamsin Hinchley, Becchara Palmer, and Alice Rohkamper.
Papua New Guinea also included: Alice Ito, Richard Kilarupa, Moha Mea, Jossie Dick, Gary Udiah, and Richard Batari.
The second Sub Zonal Tournament will be held at Vanuatu from May 17 to 21 and will be joined by teams from Fiji, Tuvalu, and the Solomon Islands. The third and final competition takes place at Apia, Samoa from May 25 to 27 and is joined by American Samoa, the Cook Islands, New Zealand, and Tonga.
The CBVC includes 154 nations across five continents and takes place over a two-year period, according to the Northern Marianas Islands Volleyball Association. A total of 24 spots (per gender) will be open for beach volleyball at the Olympic Games.
“The Continental Cup final will have a total of 16 teams, with the top three teams from each zonal tournament as well as the host. In the case of the host country being in the top three qualifiers, the fourth ranked country of their zonal tournament will progress. Each country will face off with each other in a five-day tournament with the champion winning a place at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The second and third placed sides will then move onto the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup for another chance at qualification,” said the NMIVA on its website.
This weekend’s Sub Zonal Tournament started Friday and ended yesterday with an exhibition match between Australia’s players.
