(Northern Marianas Sports Association) — With 17 teams entered in the men’s beach volleyball event in the 2023 Pacific Games, Tyce Mister sees intense competition on the sand court in Honiara, the Solomon Islands.
“The competition is going to be fierce. The usual powerhouses will be present, and to add to the excitement, Team Australia will be joining the Games,” said Mister, who is back as coach of the NMI men’s beach volleyball team that will be represented anew by Logan Mister and Andrew Johnson.
The NMI duo won the silver medal in the 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games — a feat that Tyce said surprised last year’s field.
“I believe many countries were taken by surprise by the impressive performance of the NMI Team at the Mini Games, and we’re looking forward to making an even bigger impact in the upcoming 2023 Pacific Games,” said Mister, a former national player himself.
Logan and Johnson went undefeated in the pool play in last year’s Pacific Mini Games to reach the semifinals where they downed Tuvalu to make it to the gold medal game. The NMI players then won the opening set in the finals against Vanuatu’s Chillia James and Banga Stivano, 21-19, before dropping the last two, 10-21, 13-15. Despite the finals loss, Tyce said the team overachieved.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our beach volleyball competitors, both men’s and women’s teams, who represented us at the Pacific Mini Games. I must say, NMI did an outstanding job hosting the Games. The beach volleyball venue was nothing short of sensational, with Somia Quan at the helm. It was like the icing on the cake to see our men’s team clinching an exhilarating silver medal,” the NMI coach said.
At the conclusion of their finals appearance in last year’s Pacific Mini Games, both Logan and Johnson have expressed willingness to represent the NMI again and challenge the best in the region. As they return to the sand court for this year’s Pacific Games, Logan and Johnson will join the men’s field that includes the representatives of Australia, American Samoa, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Wallis & Futuna, Kiribati, Palau, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and the defending champion, Vanuatu
“We’re eagerly anticipating the Pacific Games in 2023 in the Solomon Islands, and Andrew and Logan will be back in action. These two athletes have been putting in the hours, training rigorously, and even had the opportunity to compete together in various tournaments following their success at the PMG,” Tyce said.
The NMI pair played in tournaments in Thailand, California and Hawaii. For their final preparations for the Pacific Games, Logan and Johnson will be training together in Hawaii for a week before traveling to Honiara where the beach volleyball competition is scheduled from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2, 2023 at the Solomon Islands Football Federation’s Academy. Preliminary schedule for the volleyball competitions has yet to be released, but teams in the men’s division will have a pool play format with the participating squads divided into four groups.
Joining Johnson and the Misters in the 2023 Pacific Games is Northern Mariana Islands Volleyball Association President Chris Nelson, who will also serve as team manager. The NMIVA representatives are part of the more than 100 NMI athletes and officials participating in the 2023 Pacific Games that will run from Nov. 19 to Dec. 2, 2023. Team Marianas’ participation in this year’s Pacific Games is supported by the Joeten Daidai Foundation, Triple J, Crowne Plaza Resort, IT&E, IP&E, Tan Siu Lin Foundation, Mobil, Tan Holdings, and McDonald’s.
