Heaven on Earth, Pantheon are Agape Christmas V-ball champs

The year started with a bang, and it felt like fireworks exploded on the court with each point in the Annual Agape Christmas Volleyball Tournament at the Agape Christian School Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 3.

The women’s division saw Heaven on Earth toppling defending champions Lady Starz in a five-set championship showdown, 25-15, 25-16, 13-25, 21-25, 16-14.

It was a fiery game in an even hotter gym with two evenly matched teams—Heaven on Earth, made up of veteran players Michelle Masga, Somia Quan, Kathy Winkfield, Regene Palacios, Caydince Masga, Toni Kasilyn Olopai, Charnessa Lizama, Trina Palacios, Kaia Travilla, Rae Rogolofoi, Serafina Rogoyawa, Dayna Macaranas, and Naiomi Billimon. The young Lady Starz squad was composed mostly of national team players Aiko Rasiang, Katriel Saures, Veralei Hapdei, Vinalei Hapdei, Jasmine John, Ha’ani Passi, Triana Sablan, Yasmeen Younis, Erica Zandueta, and Mei Rengiil.

The battle-tested Heaven on Earth team fought their way to the finals against top-seeded Lady Starz and carried their momentum into the championship, winning the first two sets and looking to ascend quickly to the title. However, Lady Starz showed why they were the defending champions with a loud comeback in the third set, 25-13. With hard kills and strong serves, Lady Starz forced a winner-take-all fifth set after narrowly winning the fourth, 25-21. The final set turned into another nail-biter and went into deuce, with Heaven on Earth finally clinching the win through well-placed touches, 16-14.

Olopai said of their win, “It was exciting. Just continuing to push through even though we were tired playing the whole day coming out of the loser’s bracket.” With losing the third and fourth set, she said that in the fifth set, they talked more and dug for every ball. “Instead of going for power, it was more placement,” she said of their strategy.

She added, “overall, it was a really nice tournament. We appreciate Agape for hosting this every year and it was really fun. I would like to encourage more people to come out even if you’re not a volleyball player, it helps build the sport, and it’s fun—it gets us all moving.”

Meanwhile, the men’s division also went the distance in another five-set battle, with Pantheon defeating 4 Starz, 25-22, 25-14, 25-27, 19-25, 15-11.

Jermaine Salas, Mokyang Kim, Gregory Perez, Shadrach Coleman, T.J. Saures, Mark Ivan Sapio, Achilles Evangelista, and Yuling Chai pounded the court with hard kills and well-timed blocks, but just like the women’s finals, 4 Starz gave them their money’s worth.

Nakashima Nakashima, Ko Kumuch, Marc Danga, Maui Taijeron, Alfredo Guevarra, Jason Limes, Ben Olopai, Robert Billy, DJ Joab, Allen Cabrera, Gino Asauo, Lowell Lumauag, and Nilo Calimag battled back to narrowly force a fourth set after a thrilling third, 27-25. In the final fifth set, both teams were deadlocked at 5-5 and 6-6, before Pantheon began to pull away as 4 Starz showed signs of fatigue. Costly errors on returns gave Pantheon the opening they needed to seal the win, 15-11.

Salas, the captain of the newly formed Pantheon team said on challenging 4 Starz, “We love them but they gave us a good fight. They made us work for our money.”

As for the tournament, he said, “it was very fun. We got to challenge a lot of teams—there were a lot of new teams actually so it kind of gives a sense that the volleyball scene is getting out there. This is the most teams we had in the Agape Christmas Tournament.”

Sponsors of the event included NMI Volleyball Association, IT&E, Pacific Islands Club Saipan, Fishing Tackle, First Hawaiian Bank, and the Athletes Foot.