Co-sponsored by the Northern Mariana Volleyball Association SEAFIX and Pacific Trading, the beach volleyball was a success as BK Park, Fiesta Resort and Spa general manager, expressed interest in supporting beach volleyball on Saipan.
Laurie Peterka, president of NMIVA, recommended they join force with Fiesta in bringing another exciting volleyball tournament to Saipan.
Russ Quinn, an NMIVA board member, says, “Fiesta’s tournament would mesh perfectly with the men’s and women’s two person beach volleyball leagues that are currently on-going and will help ensure our local players are in top form when competing with or against the many professional players arriving for the Marianas Cup Beach Volleyball Festival.“
Melody Matson and Melissa Halaby earned the coveted first seed by going undefeated in Women’s Division where seven teams competed.
Heather Kennedy and Nicole LeBlanc were seeded second with Gin Gridley and Lindsey Sosovec getting the third seed.
The Men’s Division saw nine teams competing for favorable seeding and Tyce Mister and Chris Nelson sailed thought the competition unscathed to claim first seed.
Jazz Rosokow and Syney Takahashi were seeded second, suffering only one loss to the Mister/Nelson combo while teammates Russ Quinn and Bruce Berline grabbed the third seed.
With pool play finished, the double elimination playoffs began.
As in pool play, Matson/Halaby went through the competition holding off Anastacio/Mister to get into the finals.
Coming up through the loser’s bracket, Kennedy/leBlanc defeated Gridley/Sosovec in the match for third place and thus joined Matson/Halaby in the finals. Although it was a hard fought game, Matson/Halaby proved to be too much for Kennedy/leBlanc, winning the championship 25-22.
On the men’s side, Mister/Nelson continued their rise to the finals by defeating Jess Palacios and Jeff Elliott, then downing Rosokow/Takahashi sending them to the loser’s bracket. Meanwhile, an early loss sent Quinn and Berline to the loser’s bracket where they eventually found themselves in a battle for third place against a cramping Rosokow/Takahashi. After a hard fought game, Rosokow/Tahahashi earned the right to play a grudge match against Mister/Nelson.
The men’s final match between Takahashi/Rosokow and Mister/Nelson was outstanding. Takahashi, who has just recently returned to competition, was in great form, digging solid hits from Mister/Nelson and returning the favor in kind. Rosokow, despite being hindered by cramping muscles, continued to fight for every point and demonstrated his tremendous hitting power for the crowd. In the end though, Mister and Nelson prevailed by a score of 25-22.
