Beach v’ball duo smacks way to win vs Palau

Logan Mister and Andrew Johnson are back at it on the sands as they breezed through Palau in two quick sets, 21-13, 21-9, in the first day of beach volleyball competitions yesterday afternoon at the SIFF Academy.

Although it’s beach volleyball, it’s sans beach as they play on just outdoor courts filled with sand. It doesn’t matter just as sand is felt underfoot and Mister and Johnson made light work of Palau for a quick 30-minute match.

Johnson and Mister snaked and weaved through the sand with ease and brought Palau’s Sojy Blelas and Texxon Taro to their knees. Mister, with his height set up the blocks as much as he could and attacked with precise kills as Johnson set up the plays and served strong.

The NMI duo coasted through the second set, 6-1, and Palau didn’t have much of a fight from there. Only 3 more points landed for Palau while Johnson and Mister took it all the way home to win by 12 points.

Johnson said after their match, “The competition was good. We played Palau in the Mini Games but they did have a new member, so it was a little tough to see what he was like. His partner was really good from what we remember last. We were expecting a win, but I think the first set could’ve been a little bit better, but now that’s done, we’re ready for Tonga.”

He added that it felt “great” to win. “Our first game jitters are gone, so we’re ready for the next one.”

Mister said of the pool they’re playing in, “I feel like we have a pretty tough pool. We’re pretty confident against Palau and Tonga, but really excited for our game against Vanuatu, trying to get revenge from last year in the Mini Games.”

As for how he felt in the match, he said, “I felt pretty good. It was also really humid to be honest. So, a couple points there, I was breathing hard, but overall, I felt very good.”

Johnson and Mister arrived on Nov. 25 and had a practice run against Australia Monday afternoon.

Today at 12pm Solomon Islands Time (11am Saipan time), the boys will face off against Tonga, then later at 7pm (6pm Saipan Time), it’s a rematch against Vanuatu—who beat them for gold in the 2022 Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games.

NMI men’s va’a team breaks 2-minute barrier

The second day of va’a competitions went underway at DC Park and even if NMI didn’t make it to the finals, it was a great day for the men’s team as they came in under two minutes—1:59.85 in the V6 500m sprints repechage to claim the fastest time amongst Micronesian countries.

Despite a sick crew not feeling 100%, the men—Tyler Andrew, Yu Ling Chai, Terry Ruben, Mitchell Kukkun, Willie Cabrera, and Richark Sikkel—and women—Ashley Pangelinan, Jenisha Dubrall, Vinalynn Oronigo, Dayna Macaranas, Eva Weaver, and Momoko Halstead—gave it their all.

The NMI men’s team placed fourth in the repechage and beat Palau who claimed fifth and Guam who claimed last place.

Va’a team manager Justin Andrew said of Day 2 competitions, “The course was perfect today—a lot flatter than yesterday and this was the perfect water for sprints. Our national team did very well today. The men’s crew broke under 2 minutes and that’s not very easy to do. Breaking 2 minutes and staying with the pack—I think that’s a good accomplishment. We beat the two powerhouses in the northern hemisphere—Guam and Palau so we’re very happy with our young crew.”

Today, they are racing in the 1,500m which was scheduled for yesterday but was rescheduled due to readjustment of the course.

Leo Wania takes on the solo triathlon stage at 9:10am (8:10am Saipan time) today, while the men’s national soccer team plays their final match against Tuvalu at 1pm (12pm Saipan time). The athletics team continues their events with Tania Tan competing in the 10,000m event.