After opening the tournament with a 3-1 victory over the Cook Islands, Guam fell 3-1 to the Marshall Islands, 25-23, 18-25, 25-18, 25-18. That gives both Guam and the Marshall Islands a 1-1 record, behind undefeated Palau at 2-0 in Pool A. Guam faces Palau in the 8 p.m. match Friday, and if Guam finishes among the top two teams after all round-robin games, it will advance to the medal round.
Guam’s men’s team is also 1-1 after opening with a win against American Samoa before falling to New Caledonia the next day. Guam’s men play Palau at 6 p.m. Friday, with all games at the Field House.
In Guam’s women’s match Wednesday, the home team had a difficult time handling serves and could not get passes close enough to the net to run plays. Guam fell behind 9-2, and it got even worse.
Errors, miscommunication and service errors contributed to the Marshall Islands’ biggest lead of the contest at 16-5.
Momentum shifted slightly to Guam after a Marshall Islands spiking error, followed by Faith Piper’s monster kill that cut the deficit to 16-7.
The Marshall Islands maintained a commanding lead, threatening to put the set away at 21-14 before Kaelia Borja stepped to the service line and Guam went on a massive run. Danica Ramirez had two slams in a row, and Juliet Ambrose nailed one of her four kills in the set as Guam closed the gap to 22-21. The teams traded points, and an ace by setter Areyanna Garrido tied the score at 23-23, but an error and a block by the Marshall Islands’ front line gave the first set to the visitors.
“I think the Marshalls had a really good game. They put up a great block, they had tough serves and made it hard to get the perfect passes,” said libero Minami Rabago, who, at 23, is the oldest player on the team. “We kind of just broke down a little bit and were unable to get back into it. The Marshalls did a really great job keeping us out of system.”
Guam looked dominant at times in the second set, taking the lead and maintaining it for most of the game. The Marshall Islands tied the score at 17-17 and again at 18-18, but a big block by Piper, plus an ace by Lea Aromin, gave Guam the lead for good. A quick kill from Borja, an error by the Marshall Islands and two slams by Piper helped Guam knot the match at one set apiece.
But it was the Marshall Islands that took control when it counted most, winning the next two sets with Guam remaining within striking distance both times.
“Today was a tough game. I just want my team to know that I was proud of the way we played. Now it’s time to regroup and come back as better players on Friday,” Rabago said.
She asked the people of Guam to come and support their national teams Friday night, when both the men’s and women’s squads will face Palau.
“The more support we get, the better we play. Palau is also going to have a lot of really great supporters, so it would be awesome to have the island backing us up. We really hope Guam fills the stands,” she said.
