NMIVA women play today

A week after the Northern Mariana Islands Volleyball Association tested the top men’s players on the beach behind the Pacific Islands Club, they are set to do it all over again, but this time the CNMI’s top women will hit the sand running at the familiar San Antonio haunt for a chance to represent their hometown in the 2006 Micronesian Games.

The best bumpers, setters, and spikers will descend upon Saipan this summer for the hottest beach volleyball competition in the region this summer, and NMIVA is close to finding the local team that will face them.

Currently, the tandem of Laurie Peterka and Heather Kennedy are atop the standings with a total of 70 points through three rounds of qualifying. They are all but assured of a shot in the final four tournament that will ultimately decide the CNMI’s team, as is the second place duo of Stephanie Arnold and Jazmine Anastacio with 66 points.

Third place in the race for the last space goes to half of last year’s Mini Games team Melissa Halaby and Private School’s League MVP Lena Guzman, with 62 points, and while Kelley “Fruity Mom” Butcher and Mili “the Peruvian Punisher” Saiki are in fourth place, Butcher is ineligible to participate in the Micro Games due to residency requirements.

So now the race for the final spot hinges on a pair of newbies and a pair of vets. As of now, Benylynn Mettao and Sia Dela Cruz are favored to get the last of the four tickets to the final tournament by virtue of their two third place finishes and 44-point total, but they were absent from Saturday’s action.

Since they failed to appear for the qualifying round advance to the tournament, Mettao-Dela Cruz left the door open for Rima Halaby and Katy Johnson, but the youngsters will have to pull off at least a third place finish today to knock off the cagey veterans—and that’s is Mettao-Dela Cruz fails to show up yet again.

During the last qualifier on Saturday, Jan. 21, Butcher and Saiki dispatched all comers at the PIC, as the killer combo got revenge over Peterka-Kennedy from the first tournament back in October 2005.

Butcher-Saiki opened their third campaign with a one-sided 21-12 win over rising stars Amber Roberts and Rima Halaby, and got a major lift when they sent the NMIVA crown frontrunners Arnold-Anastacio to the losers’ bracket, 21-16.

The duo punched its ticket to the finals when they edged the Peterka-Kennedy, 24-22, but Butcher-Saiki hadn’t seen the last of them.

Registration for this morning’s tournament begins at 9:30am and the fee for this weekend’s two on two action is $5 for NMIVA members and $10 for all others. For more info, contact NMIVA vice president Taula Peter by calling 322-9263 or via email at taulap@gmail.com.

NMIVA head coach Nan Intharaluk can also be reached for more information by calling 235-6231 ext. 5147.