{"id":413357,"date":"2024-09-03T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=413357"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Kiss-My-Ace-wins-Fall-Fest-women-s-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Kiss-My-Ace-wins-Fall-Fest-women-s-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiss My Ace wins Fall Fest women\u2019s title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kiss My Ace dimmed the Lady Starz\u2019s shine and bid them adieu as they won the women\u2019s division title of the Inaugural 4 Starz Fall Fest Volleyball Tournament 2024 last Saturday at the Agape Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

Kiss My Ace won it all in two sets, 25-13, 25-20.<\/p>\n

The championship team, which consisted of Alisa Baquilles, Cecile Guevarra, Alyssa Velasco, Esco Ulloa, Julie Harrison, Leirha Manalo, Fatima Monterubio, Karisse Anne Ong, Beatrice Fabre, Reilly Tyler, Kiana Hocog, and Nina Manglona, brought the Lady Starz to their knees in the first set.<\/p>\n

The Lady Starz, which included Aiko Rasiang, Nichiko Rasiang, Veralei Hapdei, Vinalei Hapdei, Katriel Saures, Jen Sav, Jsmin John, Azzy Fatialofa, and Mei Rengiil, could not seem to find their groove in the first set as it was over as quickly as it started.<\/p>\n

But in the second set they regrouped and made a bid for a tie-breaking third set. It was a close match, 11-9, in favor of 4 Starz, but Kiss My Ace\u2019s hard-hitting Monterubio and Baquilles went to work and put a stop to it.<\/p>\n

Errors on the Lady Starz\u2019s side turned things around for Kiss My Ace, and they led once again, 17-15. Finally, they took it all the way home as they made consecutive points to secure the title, 25-20.<\/p>\n

Baquilles, who was the captain of Kiss My Ace, said of the tournament, \u201cit was very challenging because we had a small tournament in the summer, and they defeated us.\u201d With how she felt about defeating them in the finals this time around, she said, \u201cIt feels good. There was a little bit of change for our team but it still worked out well.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cThe teamwork was great. We had a lot of communication and adjustment because their team really stepped up too. It was challenging, but it was a good championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their strategy in the finals, she said, was, \u201cinitially in the beginning, we tried to do how you would professionally position yourself at the back, which is the V shaped defense. But it didn\u2019t work out, so we just went to our original plan, which is the W shape and it worked out well.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also said one of their assets this time around compared to the last tournament is that they didn\u2019t have one of their strong regular players, Monterubio. \u201cShe was in and out of the island due to the military,\u201d said Baquilles.<\/p>\n

She then said of the tournament, \u201cThe 4 Starz were very organized. I know there were a lot of challenges, especially with the timing, because there were a lot of men\u2019s teams. But we\u2019re very thankful, especially for all the sponsors, and of course, 4 Starz for organizing this. I\u2019m just thankful for everyone, especially the volleyball community, and everyone who joined. It\u2019s good to see all volleyball lovers coming here and just experiencing this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cWe really hope that the volleyball community will expand for the women and have more teams next time.\u201d<\/p>\n

4 Starz then thanked their family and friends, the Open Gym kids, and their sponsors Agape Christian School, Speaker Edmund Villagomez, Gov. Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Gov. David M. Apatang, Alex and Neil, Yohei Iwashita and Anthony Yoshikawa, The Angry Penne, Inas Kitchen, Brabu Pharmacy, Pacific Islands Club, Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan, The Athlete\u2019s Foot, McDonald\u2019s of Saipan, Coca Cola, Hybrid, 3HIGH-RES, Mar Pac Distributors, Gold\u2019s Gym, Latte Built Gym, and National Office Supply, and all the volunteers that helped referee, be a line judge, and assist in any way possible.<\/p>\n

4 Starz is a volleyball group that was formed last year, with an homage to its president Nak Nakashima\u2019s roots\u2014the Federated States of Micronesia and Japan\u2014hence the four stars within the sun of Japan\u2019s flag in their logo. The four stars represent the four FSM states, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Yap.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Champion team Kiss My Ace, in black uniform, poses with runner-up Lady Starz after their finals matchup in the women\u2019s division of the Inaugural 4 Starz Fall Fest Volleyball Tournament 2024 last Saturday at the Agape Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASES
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Kiss My Ace\u2019 Karisse Ong makes contact for a kill over the net as a Lady Starz defender puts her hand up to attempt a block during the second set of their finals matchup in the Inaugural 4 Starz Fall Fest Volleyball Tournament 2024 last Saturday at the Agape Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASES
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

Kiss My Ace team captain Alisa Baquilles goes for an overhead serve during the second set of their finals matchup against Lady Starz in the Inaugural 4 Starz Fall Fest Volleyball Tournament 2024 last Saturday at the Agape Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASE
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kiss My Ace dimmed the Lady Starz\u2019s shine and bid them adieu as they won…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-413357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}