Connect with us

Volleyball

PAIRS OF TITANS TO COMPETE FOR BEACH VOLLEYBALL CROWN

The Tiyan Titans have secured the IIAAG Boys Beach Volleyball Pairs Tournament title after two of their duos won in the semifinals.

By Robert Balajadia

The IIAAG Beach Volleyball Pairs Tournament Title will go to the Tiyan Titans, but the Saturday will determine which of the two pairs is going to officially be able to do that. The tandem of VJ Rosario and Xander Duenas will face fellow Titans Gerald Malana and Tyrone Buekis after both pairs picked up wins in three sets in the semifinals Wednesday evening at the GFA Sand Courts.

The four Titans were took in the moment after the final game of the day that the title is coming to the school no matter what.

“It’s a friendly competition, it’s all love and brotherhood, but right now it’s whoever’s going to come out on top,” said Rosario on facing Malana and Buekis.

“Whoever wants it more is going to come out on top. It’s going to be a great match and I think we’re all ready,” said Malana on facing Rosario and Duenas.

The THS Titans duo of VJ Rosario and Xander Duenas will face off against fellow Titans Gerald Malana and Tyrone Buekis in the IIAAG Boys Beach Volleyball Championship. (Photo by Michael Blas)

But who’s got the upper hand? Malana and Buekis were the higher seed heading into the Tournament, but they’re not ready to write their teammates off just yet.

“We have no advantage at all,” said Malana on being the higher seed. “We’re all in the same bubble so we’re all going to have to work hard.”

And yes, there’ll be some playful banter between the teammates leading to, and maybe even during, the Championship game that’s set to take place at 4:30 pm Saturday.

“There might be just a tiny bit,” laughed VJ on how much trash talking is going to be said between now and Saturday. “We’ll talk smalk when we feel like it, but it’s all love and this whole thing is for our school.”

Titans grind out semifinals wins

Malana and Buekis were battling with another set of Titans in Aedan Santos and Noel Ericsson that needed three sets to decide a winner. Malana and Buekis won the opening set and rallied from five points down in the 2nd set, losing a tough one 22-20. The 3rd set belonged to Malana and Buekis as they poured in strong hits to win 15-6.

“We knew those guys were going to catch up. We just played hard,” said Malana on digging out the three set win.

THS Titans Gerald Malana and Tyrone Buekis defeated fellow Titans Noel Ericsson and Aedan Santos for a spot in the championship match. (Photo by Michael Blas)

Rosario and Duenas had dropped the opening set to Friars Cam Kelly and Christian ‘CJ’ Lobaton, but bounced back with a strong 2nd set victory to force the final 3rd. Even when facing a 5-0 deficit to start, Rosario and Duenas stuck to the game plan and narrowly defeated the upstart Friar duo 15-13 in the final set.

“We just had to regroup and listen to coach. We made great use of our timeouts to help us talk about our gameplan. We started rough, but we managed to gather our thoughts together and calm down. Especially with the amount of pressure that both sides were under,” said VJ.

Other matches

The day also featured matches for those competing for the 3rd place title which was an exclusive battle between four Friar pairs. The winners from Wednesday combined with the pairs that lost in the semifinals will all be thrown into matches Saturday to determine a 3rd place finisher.

Thomas Alvarez/Thomas Moylan (winner)
Keith Bader/Truman Howard
1st: 25-18 Alvarez/Moylan
2nd: 25-11 Alvarez Moylan

Tayden Manibusan/Gabriel Sarmiento (winner)
Aldan Sampson/Taylor Bruch
1st: 23-21 Sampson/Bruch
2nd: 21-10 Manibusan/Sarmiento
3rd: 15-11 Manibusan/Sarmiento

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

Ad

GPS Sports Calendar

August

September 2023

October
SU
MO
TU
WE
TH
FR
SA
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
Events for August

1st

Events for September

2nd

3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Events for September

3rd

Events for September

3rd

No Events
Events for September

5th

Events for September

6th

Events for September

7th

Events for September

8th

Events for September

9th

10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Events for September

9th

No Events
Events for September

11th

Events for September

12th

Events for September

13th

Events for September

14th

Events for September

15th

Events for September

16th

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Events for September

17th

Events for September

18th

Events for September

19th

Events for September

19th

No Events
Events for September

21st

Events for September

22nd

Events for September

23rd

24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Events for September

23rd

No Events
Events for September

25th

Events for September

26th

Events for September

27th

Events for September

28th

Events for September

29th

Events for September

30th

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

COMING SOON …

  • Brawl 3: Oct 13
  • Guam’s Strongest Man and Woman Competition October 29

 

QUICK HITS

The Figo Islanders 40s women’s softball team took gold in the Senior Softball World Championship in Las Vegas. Figo came out of the loser’s bracket and beat the Arizona Belles 17-3 in the AA division championship game Sunday afternoon.
Other Guam teams that played in the 40s tournament were: Team SOTTA (women’s) and Bud Light Guam, Friars 671 and Sindalun Guahan (men’s).
Sindalu finished a respectable 4th out of 24 AAA division teams.
——————————————————-
In Guam’s first time competing in the FIBA Asia Cup, we draw China, Japan, and Mongolia in Group C. Competition begins in 2024. Guam also moves up the FIBA world rankings to #76.

More in Volleyball