Lady Starz, Team Swat clinch Agape Christmas v-ball champs

It was an exhilarating day of volleyball action as the top teams took center stage in the culmination of the 6th Annual Agape Christmas Volleyball Tournament last Saturday at the Agape Gymnasium.

The women’s division champions, Lady Starz, staged an incredible comeback against their rivals, Kiss My Ace, clinching the title in a thrilling five-set match after trailing by two sets early on.

The Lady Starz’s youthful and energetic rotation included Aiko Rasiang, Nichiko Rasiang, Jen Sav, Veralei Hapdei, Vinalei Hapdei, Kat Saures, Jovi Moses, Jasmine John, Knohlynn Gechig, Mei Rengiil, Erica Zandueta, and Ha’ani Passi.

They faced off against the veteran team, Kiss My Ace, in last year’s inaugural 4 Starz Fall Fest Volleyball Tournament and suffered a loss in the finals, making their redemption in this meeting even sweeter.

Kiss My Ace had the upper hand early as they took the first two sets in a fight-to-the finish showdown, 25-23, 27-25. Both sets were anyone’s game, but Kiss My Ace landed the crucial two points at the end of the sets to secure a 2-0 lead.

However, Lady Starz was far from out of the fight. Under the guidance of coach Nak Nakashima, they regrouped and bounced back to claim the third set with a 25-21 victory.

At this point, Kiss My Ace’s Cecile Guevarra, Alisa Baquiles, Alyssa Velasco, Julie Harrison, Esco Ulloa, Karisse Ong, Abbygaile Ong, Leirha Manalo, Nina Manglona, Julia Medicielo, and Cassey Babauta were worn out as they could not return Lady Starz’s serves.

Kiss My Ace created unforced errors which cost them points and eventually lost the fourth set, 19-25. In the final do-or-die fifth set, the momentum that the Lady Starz carried from the fourth put them up quickly, 7-1. The Lady Starz were untouchable, but the experience and strategic gameplay of Kiss My Ace allowed them to get back into the game, 8-11.

It was a nailbiter until the end as both teams attacked the ball with unrelenting force, until the Lady Starz clinched the title after a technicality when Kiss My Ace were out of rotation, which gave the Lady Starz the final point, 15-12.

Lady Starz team captain Aiko Rasiang said of their win after the championships, “this tournament has been fun because there’s a lot more teams than the last tournament. The last tournament, we played against Kiss My Ace and we lost, so coming back into this championship and going against them was really intense. We lost the first two sets, but we fought hard and played as a team to win.”

On beating Kiss My Ace, she said, “it’s good. It’s like redemption, so it’s a good feeling.”

In the men’s division after the two-and-a-half battle in the women’s division, Team Swat held on to win in four sets against team Bomba.

Team Swat was made up of Dylan Mister, Tyce Mister, Blake Mister, Logan Mister, John Nekaifes, Dylan Salalila, James Salalila, Casey Chambers, Tyler Wilsey, J.R. Gechig, and Justin Ma.

They used their height, strength, and experience to overpower the younger team of Jerome Manzon, John Matias, Jericho Castro, Bernard Villagomez, Jermaine Salas, K.C. Nuyles, Seth Hong, and Seth Tababa.

Despite the late start, the gym was still rocking with the cheers and applause from the crowd. Each powerful kill and unhittable ace from both teams elicited an eruption of cheers from the stands—which matched the intensity of the battle that reigned on the court.

Team Swat came back from a deficit in the first set but came back to win in a closely contested matchup, 25-23. Bomba then exploded onto the scene as they tied it all up in the second in another tough set, 27-25.

The Misters then silenced Bomba in the third set, 25-14, to put themselves in a 2-1 advantage. Bomba attempted to force a fifth set as the fourth set was the most intense matchup yet. Both teams were giving it their all as Team Swat wanted to end it there, while Bomba aimed for a tie-breaker.

It was nonstop back-and-forth action as the game was tied up until the end, 19-19, then, 20-20, until 22-22. Bomba was on the verge of tying it up again but made a few mistakes at the net and were down, 22-24. They managed to take a point after an out-of-bounds return from Team Swat team captain Dylan Mister for a close 23-24 game, but he redeemed himself as he seized the moment and smashed the final point through Bomba’s defenses to haul in the title, 25-23.

Mister said after the championships that the finals and tournament were “really fun.”

Their team and Bomba faced off a few times in other tournaments prior and he said, “we were missing a lot of key players, like my brother [Logan], who’s here this time. I feel like that made a big difference. Not only that, we just pushed through and played together as a team really well.”

He added, “Huge shoutout to [En Yang Pang] for organizing everything. I know there’s a lot of obnoxious players out there and he had a lot to put up with, so I respect him a lot for that. It was a good tournament, so thank you Yang especially.”

The prize for first place was $400, while second place was $200.