Tyce Mister and Chris Nelson dominated the men’s division after crushing Rob Epley and Greg Elliott in the finals round.
Melody Matson and Amanda Clarkson topped a 12-team pool to win first place in the women’s division.
The Mister-Nelson duo landed a two-win streak, downing JR Gechig and AJ Aguilar in the quarterfinals and the team of Aaron Engelhardt and Daniel Clarkson in the semis.
From the losers’ bracket, Gechig and Aguilar defeated Clay McCullough-Stearns and Josh Borja but fell to Epley and Elliott for fourth place. Epley and Elliot outscored Engelhardt and Clarkson before losing to the champs.
Matson and Amanda Clarkson bagged four straight wins to secure their top spot. In the quarterfinals, they ousted Samantha Calvo and Charnessa Lizama from the winners’ bracket and conquered Nicole LeBlanc and Heather Kennedy to clinch their finals seat.
LeBlanc and Kennedy recovered with a win over Kelley Butcher and Mili Saiki in the semis. They crashed and burned against Matson and Clarkson, earning second place. Butcher and Saiki settled for third, while Toni Yamada and Nikissa Castro took fourth.
Epley and Elliott won second place, Engelhardt and Daniel Clarkson earned third, and Gechic and Aguilar bagged fourth in the men’s division.
A total of 18 teams – six mens’ and 12 womens’ – showed up at Hyatt. Game point was 15 for all games and 21 for semis and finals matches. Gams followed a double elimination format.
“First place winners each took home a Kilili Terrace lunch for two and second place winners took home one Club Elan day pass each,” posted Laurie Peterka on the NMIVA’s website.
Mister, Nelson, Matson, and Clarkson also lead their respective categories in the NMIVA’s qualifier series. Mister and Nelson have tallied 40 points while Matson and Clarkson have 30.
Next up in the NMIVA’s series is the Marianas Cup Beach Volleyball ProAm Tournament, set for Feb. 26 and 27 at Fiesta Resort and Spa.
