Three-peat for Umangs 1 in co-ed volleyball

The Koblerville Elementary School Umangs 1 went out in style as they clinched their third championship in a row in the NMIVA-PSS Co-ed Elementary School Volleyball Tournament 2023-2024 at the Oleai Sports Complex last Saturday.

Umangs 1 sent off their fifth graders with their school’s third straight championship as they defeated Kagman Elementary School Blue Marlins in two straight sets, 21-13, 21-15.

It was a back-and-forth volley for both teams from the get-go under the blazing Saturday morning sun. However, it was clear in the last points of the first set that the Umangs had a slight advantage with their better defense and less mistakes on their returns.

The Umangs took advantage of their momentum in the first set and won with an 8-point margin.

Reprieve came a little too late for the Blue Marlins as they were down, 11-19, in the second set. Substitute Azaleah Magofna had the last run for Kagman as they tried to stage a comeback with her unreturnable serves. They made it to 15-19, but an out-of-bounds serve gave the advantage to the Umangs, 20-19.

Leiha’ani Pebley had the last serve for the Umangs, and with a long volley, the Blue Marlins made a mistake on the return and handed the third straight championship to the south side.

Pebley, in an interview after the game, said that their principal and coach, Jonas Barcinas, pushed them hard and helped them a lot in training.

Teammate Shynelle Yamada said, “all the training was really hard, but it paid off.” Germaya Sellem added that the competition was “great”, although it was “a little bit hard.”

In round-robin play, the Umangs went undefeated with four wins. In the playoffs, they defeated Tinian Elementary School to secure the top spot in the winner’s bracket.

With Pebley, Yamada, and Sellem are Alex Aveina, David Billy, Dean Aldan, Christopher Deleon Guerrero, Tommy Moses, Justin Defang, Vincent Matteo, Giovanna Igisaiar, Rose Shoray, Mary Fitial, Nianale Mettao, and Liseipischaang Wabol.

The Kingfishers were made up of Mekean Iguel, Dilen Quitugua, Beniah Murphy, Juan Damian, Conan Iakopo, Elena Taisakan, Aureya Saralu, Astrid Masiwemai, Joscelyn Wenio, Aliyah Sablan, and Azaleah Magofna.

Umangs co-coach Francis Mendiola, who also coached the past two championship teams, said “we feel happy. The students worked hard and they learned from all the coaches—KobES principal Jonas Borja and Erlwin Aguirre.” He said that most of their players are promoting to middle school and would have to restart next season.

KobES principal Jonas Barcinas said the strategy was a “blanket defense.” He said, “we want to make sure they know how to receive the ball—whether it’s a hard or high serve. We taught them the basic fundamentals, and that’s the result of what we’ve been working on, so kudos to our kids and our coaches.

Aguirre added that they also incorporated teamwork. “Motivation and positivity, and momentum. This sport is all about momentum and that’s how we pulled through with our victory.”

Mendiola attributed their win and high-level of skills and play to Barcinas and Aguirre. “Their skill level went up this year. The past two years, they were good, but this year, it’s a much better team because of these two and their expertise in preparing them.”

Barcinas then thanked the CNMI PSS Athletics Program and its director Nick Gross, KobES staff, coaches, and all the students that support their team.