Previous Story
Nelson-McDonald does it again
|
Posted on Oct 23 2006
Chris Nelson and Mark McDonald are the early favorites to represent the CNMI on the Samoan sand courts next summer in the Pacific Games as they defeated all comers in the second Northern Mariana Islands Volleyball Association qualifying tournament.
Nelson-McDonald knocked off the tandem of Bill Owens and Tyce Mister in the finals, but it didn’t come easy as they lost their initial match in thrilling fashion, 23-21. Their twice-to-beat advantage paid off as they forced a rubber match with Owens-Mister, which they won, 15-12 on the Pacific Islands Club sand court.
In last week’s tournament, the duo had to fight through the losers bracket to win the points, but this time around Nelson-McDonald cruised through the preliminary round unscathed.
After winning last time out, Nelson-McDonald entered the tournament as the first seed and got a bye into the second round, where they opened with a 21-15 win over Owens-Mister.
They face another pair of worthy opponents in the next round but they dispatched Dan “Barno” Westphal and Jess Palacios, 21-12 to advance to the finals for their rematch with Owens-Mister.
The win gave Nelson-McDonald 20 points for the NMIVA qualification series and puts them ahead of the pack in the men’s division, while a pair of young guns played tough in the women’s division.
Students Melisa Halaby and Lena Guzman schooled the competition as they knocked off Angie Mister and Nikki Shryack in the finals, 21-14, to earn 20 points toward Samoa. Twice as many teams turned out to the PIC for the second round of action as four tandems took the sand for a little hand-to-hand competition.
Halaby-Guzman first defeated Rima Halaby and Nina Mosley, 21-13, while Kelly Butcher and E.J. Lee fell early with a loss to Mister-Shryack, 21-15, but Butcher-Lee recovered to place third overall with a decisive 21-7 win over Halaby-Mosley.
