Day 3:  
Wednesday, July 23, 2014


Men’s Volleyball


Guam defeated host Pohnpei in straight sets 25-22, 25-17 and 25-18.


Men’s Fast Pitch Softball


Guam defeated Kosrae 9-7 after a rain delay.


Men’s Baseball


After the first game defeat, Guam’s baseball team got straight to work against the home team immediately sending a message during their first at bat as they scored two runs.  Play was halted after the second inning due to inclement weather.  When action returned both teams scored one run each for a final score of 3-1.


Men’s Basketball


After a tough late night game last night at the Marianas College Gym, Guam’s basketball team got back on the court at noon and romped through Yap 107-61.  The win brings their undefeated record to 3-0 atop the leader board as pool play concludes.  Guam’s cagers continue their march to gold on Saturday.


Women’s Basketball


Despite sitting one starter because of a sprained ankle, Guam women's basketball team was able to pull away from a tough Palau team 79-46. 


Guam was down a player as starting forward Kat Castro was forced to sit this game because of swelling on her ankle.  Her presence was missed as Guam could not seem to find their offensive rhythm.  Alina Bonto finally broke that spell scoring 8 straight points to close the first quarter at 19-12.  Palau cut the lead to 5 with four minutes remaining in the 2nd quarter, but Bonto along with Destiny Castro began finding their way to the rim or free throw line, extending the lead to 17 by halftime.


Early into the 3rd quarter, team captain Jocelyn Pardilla picked up her 4th foul, forcing her to the bench with Guam ahead by 15 points.  But Bonto and Castro along with newcomers Kali Benavente,  Felicia Borja, and veteran Raelene Tajalle took over the 3rd quarter, forcing numerous turnovers and extending the lead to 28 at the end of the third.


Guam continued to cruise in the 4th quarter behind the strong play of another newcomer, Sam Nauta, and pulled away winning their second consecutive game.  Bonto and Castro lead Guam with 20 points each.


Tennis


Tennis players turned a down pour into a bright shining medal as both men and women teams earned gold.  Brian Tuncap Jr. started strong with a 5-2 set lead, but struggled to close out the match against Kosrae's Moses Charley.  Charley took the next four games and the lead at 5-6.  Tuncap evened the match at six, but Charley controlled the deciding game 7-1 for a 7-6 first set win.  Tuncap then raced to a 4-2 lead in the second set, but the match was suspended due to rain.  After the court was cleared, Charley retired due to severe cramping that gave Team Guam the first match.


The second match between top seeds Joshua Cepeda and Aikelus Tilfas went all in favor of the Guam athlete as Cepeda routed his opponent 6-1, 6-0 for the title.  Guam doubles of 
Charles Oliver and Anthony John
 trailed 3-4 before play has halted due to deluge.  The match continued for a short while and was suspended thereafter.


The women's matches were less dramatic as Camdyn Nadler easily dispatched Pohnpei's Sunshine Palk 6-1, 6-1 while Katie Lai trounced Margaret Finnen 6-0, 6-2 for the women's title.
  
The women's doubles of Nadine Del Carmen and Charlene Espinosa blasted their way to a 5-2 lead before play was halted.
  
A decision to continue the doubles play will be made tomorrow as both matches are being played for formalities.


Swimmers splash to 55 medals


Guam Swimmers collected seventeen more medals on the final day of competition increasing the count to 30 gold, 17 silver and 8 bronze.  Lorilei Poppe opened the golden day harvest in the 200m Women’s Butterfly which was followed by back to back top finishes by Jagger Stephens in the 50m Backstroke where Alejandro Atoigue finished second and 50m Freestyle where he out touched Christopher Duenas by 1/100th of a second in a race that could not be called. 


Pilar Shimizu followed up the gold medal rush in the 50m Freestyle and 100m Breast stroke as Benjamin Schulte and Tanner Poppe went 1-2 in the 100m Men’s Breast stroke.
  
Stephens and Tommy Imazu also finished 1-2 in the 400m Freestyle.
  
Team Guam’s mix relay team of Champ Quinata, Taloani Atoigue, Amanda Poppe and Tommy Imazu outlasted the field in the 4x800m distance while Stephens, Duenas, Atoigue and Poppe blasted the sprints in the 4x50m men’s relay.
  
Tanner Poppe and Champ Quinata finished 2-3 in the 200m Butterfly while the women’s 4x50m relay team of Pilar Shimizu, Jessica Jones, Taloani Atoigue and Madison Packbier finished second to close out the day.


The camaraderie amongst the Micronesian swimmers shined through the gloomy day as the medalists in the last heat all band together for a Micronesian team cheer.


Women's Volleyball


Guam defeated Kosrae in straight sets.  Guam easily won the first set 25-10, however Kosrae fought hard in the second set and third set.  Kosrae led 9-3 in the second set before Guam mounted their attack, but the Kosrae stayed in the game at 21-20 until Guam was able to close out the game at 25-20. 


The third set was intense as service errors and mishandling of the ball allowed Kosrae to battle throughout the game until a Gillian spike ended the match 25-23.