When Guam’s women’s national team and the Marshall Islands met last Tuesday in pool play in the 2026 Oceania Volleyball Championships, the visitors won handily, defeating Guam 3-1 in front of its home crowd at the University of Guam Calvo Field House.
“The first time we played them, we had a little bit of a rough game. We were still trying to figure it out. They were picking up everything. Their serves were on point, and it was just hard to come back,” said Guam’s Faith Piper. “So this time around, we knew what we needed to do. I wouldn’t say revenge, but we wanted to get this back, especially for our island.”
Less than one week later, in the bronze medal match between the same two teams, Guam shut out the Marshall Islands 25-20, 26-24, 25-15.
“Any tournament on Guam is nice to win. No matter what place you are, it’s nice to finish it off strong,” Piper said. Oceania is a really, really big tournament, especially for Guam. Our placement was very, very important.
“Obviously, we’re not in the championship, but hey, we’re third place right now, so I think it’s still a big win. We’ve got big competition that came out, so to get this far, it’s great.”
Throughout the first set, Guam’s Keviann Susuico and Marshall Islands’ Rutha Pedro powered their team’s offenses. Pedro finished the set with four kills to Susuico’s three tills and two taps to the open floor.
With one set in hand for Guam, the second set was a nail-biter.
After Piper made a couple of errors, she asked to be subbed out so she could regain her composure before returning to the floor.
“Me personally, I got a little bit out of the game. I asked coach for a sub. I came out for a little bit just to watch, support my team, because you know, all of us prepared for this,” Piper said. “Once one of us does bad, there’s always another one to pick up where we left off, so I had no doubt that whoever was going ti sub me in would just go out there and kill it.”
Back on the floor, Piper returned steadily and helped the team claim a 2-0 lead. During the set, Guam’s Keira Weakley, Juliet Ambrose, Piper, and Lyrwana each contributed with a kill. Aryanna Garrido and Kaelia Borja each served an ace. Borja also added a block.
With a 2-0 lead set firmly, Guam dominated the third set. Piper had two kills and an ace, Lea Aromin added two kills to bring her total to four, Susuico chipped in with a kill and an ace, and Natasha Kelly pounded a kill shot.
The big competition included first-place Australia, runner-up American Samoa, Wallis and Futuna, New Caledonia, Cook Islands, and Palau.
The top-four finishers, Australia, American Samoa, Guam and Marshall Islands secured their spots at the 2027 Pacific Games in French Polynesia.
With their sight targeted for Tahiti on 2027, Faith told the Post what they needed to do to get ready: “more practice, more time together, build everyone’s confidence.”
That’s really all we have to do. And then from there, skills will follow. Everything else will follow.”
Guam falls to Wallis and Futuna
In the men’s bronze medal match, which was also played Sunday at the Field House, Wallis and Futuna defeated Guam 3-1.
In the gold medal game, Australia swept New Caledonia.
