{"id":414131,"date":"2024-09-02T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=414131"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"The-Bomba-explodes-into-1st-place-of-4-Starz-men-s-division","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/The-Bomba-explodes-into-1st-place-of-4-Starz-men-s-division\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bomba explodes into 1st place of 4 Starz men\u2019s division"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bomba exploded into the final round and won it all in the men\u2019s division of the Inaugural 4 Starz Fall Fest Volleyball Tournament 2024 last Saturday at the Agape Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

The Bomba took down host and veteran team 4 Starz in the semis and faced off against Bench Warmers, which was a mix of players from different high schools, for all the marbles.<\/p>\n

The Bomba, which was also a mix of high school players and recent graduates, ended their run in the tourney with a bang of just two sets, 25-23, 25-22.<\/p>\n

The first set saw an intense exchange of firepower from both sides. Throughout the whole match, emotions were high and it got heated as the points were a back-and-forth battle of ties and one-point advantages until the very end of the first set.<\/p>\n

The Bomba\u2019s John Matias then served the final two points to secure the 25-23 win over the Bench Warmers.<\/p>\n

The second set was also a fiery display of skill and want for the championship. However, The Bomba\u2019s Matias, K.C. Nuyles, Jerome Manzon, Jermaine Salas, Bernard Villagomez, Merrick Toves, Frankie Satur, Clarence Rodriguez, and Joseph Ito showcased their individual skills and talent, but meshed together into one powerful unit.<\/p>\n

Bench Warmers actually led early in the second set, but Nuyles\u2019 serves brought them to an 11-11 tie. From there, the momentum shifted into The Bomba\u2019s favor as their hard-hitting kills and multiple errors from the Bench Warmers made it a 19-15 game in favor of The Bomba.<\/p>\n

When it seemed like Bench Warmers were on for a comeback rally at 19-23, Matias\u2019 serves\u2014along with well-placed kills by Manzon and Salas\u2014and the team\u2019s air-tight defense at the net allowed them to take it home by three points, 25-22.<\/p>\n

The Bench Warmers included Mokyang Kim, Jia Hao Yang, T.J. Saures, Omari Joab, Dwight Crisostomo, Kyle Kramer, Kyle Moon, Jasper Hall, Minsoo Kwon, Seth Tababa, and Seth Hong.<\/p>\n

Manzon, who was the captain of The Bomba said of the tournament, \u201cit was a really a great one because, to be honest, coming into the tournament, I thought I expected the same level of playing style from the previous tournaments. But this tournament, I was like, \u2018wow.\u2019 I was really amazed by how the players did on each team.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said of their semis against 4 Starz, \u201cit was not just hard, it was extremely hard. 4 Starz of course really wanted to take the championship and in two previous tournaments, we lost to them, so it was really, really good to finally beat them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then in the finals against Bench Warmers, he said, \u201cWe never played against the Bench Warmers throughout the entire season, but coming into this game, I told them, \u2018if we were able to beat 4 Starz, what more can we do with the high school players that we\u2019re going against this championship,\u2019 So I told them that we just play how we played from the previous match and bring it to this match\u2014all positive vibes, and we\u2019re good to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

With their team, he said the new players\u2014Toves, Satur, and Rodriguez\u2014were the key pieces that were missing because of their ability to defend the net.<\/p>\n

On winning the championship, he said, \u201cOh, my goodness, this is the first time I felt the fruit of my hard work. I was like, \u2018wow, this tournament really made me push 200%.\u2019 So yeah, on behalf of my team, I love my team. Everybody showed passion towards the game and especially towards reaching the championship. And, yeah, I\u2019m really proud of everyone.\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, 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.<\/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 The Bomba poses for a group photo with their trophy and prizes during the awards ceremony of the Inaugural 4 Starz Fall Fest Volleyball Tournament 2024 last Saturday at the Agape Gymnasium.<\/p>\n

-LEIGH GASES
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<\/p>\n

The Bomba\u2019s K.C. Nuyles goes for a powerful kill at the net over two Bench Warmers defenders during the first 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

Bench Warmers\u2019 Jasper Hall spikes one past The Bomba\u2019s captain Jerome Manzon 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bomba exploded into the final round and won it all in the men\u2019s division…<\/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-414131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414131","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=414131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}