The 6th Labor Day Volleyball Tournament concluded fittingly with a very intense and highly competitive male championship five-set marathon match on Sunday evening at the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School Digna Wheatley Gymnasium.
Three male teams, Strikers, Dirty Cowboys, and Brothers, stood out from the pack all weekend. Strikers and the defending champions Brothers were battling in Pool A, while the Dirty Cowboys were cruising through the competition in Pool B. These titan teams clashed three times during this four-day event. Each time, the crowd bore witness to passionate volleyball.
Fans were treated to hard spikes and taunting dialogue as Strikers and Brothers fought it out on the court Saturday evening in their pool play match-up. Strikers took the match in straight sets, sending them directly to the semi-finals. The Brothers’ loss meant they would face the Dirty Cowboys in the semi-finals.
The Dirty Cowboys had not really been tested to this point of the tournament. The Brothers had played some tough games in the first round and won the first set of this semi-final match against the Dirty Cowboys, 25-13. It looked like the Cowboys would leave this rodeo early as they were down 22-18 in the second set until Ashur Amaro of the Cowboys stepped into the serving box and struck the Brothers seven dirty serves to come back from behind to claim the second set 25-18. The third set was very close, but the Dirty Cowboys escaped with a 15-13 win to move on to the finals to face the Strikers.
The male championship match was all it was built up to be, with the Dirty Cowboys and Strikers splitting the first four sets. Both teams showed signs of fatigue in the final set of the tournament, with no team taking complete control of the game. With the score tied at 13, Strikers Leon Smith got his serve on the court and the Cowboys spiked the ball in the net. Smith stepped into the serving box one last time and delivered another on-point serve. This sparked a long rally that featured one diving dig, two hard spikes that were dug, and one big kill from tournament MVP Alvaro Delugo that gave Strikers the win 15-13. The Cowboys were looking for two double calls that never came as the officials let the players decide this outcome on the court.
Here are the all-tournament team selections for the men.
MALE DIVISION
Alvaro Delugo Strikers MVP
Ashur Amaro Dirty Cowboys Outside Hitter
Shaw Clement Beach Boys Outside Hitter
Rakeem Malone Brothers Middle Blocker
Shimoi Van Holten Strikers Middle Blocker
Ajani Henley Brothers Opposite
Joseph Colon Dirty Cowboys Setter
The women’s division saw two teams, Sacale and Kiss My Pass, breeze through the tournament, winning nine sets and losing just one. Their only set losses came when they each won one set in their round-robin match earlier in the tournament. Only two sets were played in all first-round matches of this volleyball tournament. If both teams won one set, no tie-breaker game would be played. A pre-tournament tie-breaker system determined rankings.
Kiss My Pass came out the gates strong, jumping out to a 10-2 early lead in the first set. Tournament MVP Rosalin Angeles and Shani Dyer went to work. Angeles served six straight points, with Dyer getting most of the kills during that stretch. Kiss My Pass held on gingerly to the lead for the entire first set until Dyer entered the serving box and served four consecutive points to give Sacale the win 26-24. The loss seemed to take the wind out of Kiss My Pass’ sails as they dropped the next two sets 25-16, 25-20. The win gave Sacale their fifth Labor Day Tournament Women’s Division Championship.
Here are the all-tournament team selections for the women.
FEMALE DIVISION
Roselin Angeles Sacale MVP
Myriam Rodney Kiss My Pass Outside Hitter
My Vigilant Kiss My Pass Outside Hitter
Chelsea Leonce Island Mixx 14U Elite Middle Blocker
Leandri Calacano Dig This Middle Blocker
Lanese Bough Sacale Setter
Roselin Angeles Sacale Setter
