Both Guam’s men’s and women’s national teams walked onto the floor one win away from advancing to the medal rounds in the 2026 Oceania Volleyball Championships Friday night at the University of Guam Calvo Field House in Mangilao, Guam.
The path to the podium – for both teams – went through Palau.
Guam, in the final women’s final game in Pool A, defeated Palau 25-6, 25-14, 25-22.
With the win, Guam’s women’s national volleyball team advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, where they were scheduled to take on American Samoa, the No. 2 seeds in Pool B, at 1:30 p.m. at UOG.
The winner will advance to the championship game, where they will play either Australia or the Marshall Islands at 6 p.m. Sunday, at UOG. The third-place game is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. Sunday, also at the Field House.
In the men’s competition, another shutout win for the home team, Guam defeated Palau 25-12, 25-23, 25-10. With the win, Guam locked up the No. 2 seed in Pool A and will face Australia at 8:15 p.m. Saturday, at the Field House.
“This is our first time in an international competition in many, many years, so we were just hoping to have a good representation out this time, and these guys did well,” said Guam head coach Mike Pangelinan. “We got into the medal round.”
Guam’s Ethan Alvarez told the Post that he was in awe of Guam’s performance.
“Win or lose, we’ll go out there, try our best, and we’re going to leave this tournament knowing that we did something for Guam and we’re going to try and build upon that,” he said.
“The fact that I’m now part of a generation that’s making strides in history – I just can’t believe it,” said Alvarez, adding that he’s suffering mildly from “a little imposter syndrome.”
“I can’t believe I’m in this situation,” he said.
By finishing the tournament in the top four, both Guam’s men’s and women’s teams qualified for the 2027 Pacific Games, which will be held July 24 to Aug. 8 in French Polynesia.
With large performances from Alvarez, Antonio Egurrola, Joseph Mafnas, Ezekiel Sablan and Noah Taitano, Guam’s power and tenacity were unmatched. Sablan, finished with a game-high 11 kills, Alvarez added eight, Taitano pounded six kills and added two blocks, Egurrola amassed two kills and three blocks and Mafnas chipped in with two kills and three blocks.
In the opening set, Taitano delivered a monstrous game, crushing five kills and adding two blocks, which stopped Palau’s momentum as they tried to find their way into the set.
“It was a great showing for the guys to do our jobs and get everybody off the bench inside the court, which is honestly something that we’ve been wanting to do this whole tournament,” Taitano said. “It takes a team to win this whole thing, and today was a big team win for all of us. I’m super proud of all the guys.”
With Palau relegated to the placement matches, Guam’s greatest competition awaits. Australia, who finished Pool B undefeated, will be a tremendous challenge.
“It’s definitely going to be one of the hardest games we’re going to be playing in this tournament, but we’re just going out there, have fun, do the best we can, have a great game, and hopefully have a great outcome,” Sablan said.
The winners of the semifinals will advance to the championship match, which will take place at 8:15 p.m. Sunday, at UOG. The losers will square off in the third-place game, scheduled for 1:30 Sunday – also at UOG.
“It’s a great feeling, going into the next two matches. I know that we’re going to battle some adversity,” Taitano said.
With the first set grabbed easily by Guam, the second set was filled with a combination of big kills and team-wide lackluster serving performances. Alvarez finished the set with five kills and Sablan added four, but multiple missed serves from Alvarez let Palau back into the set.
“I have to admit my serve wasn’t there tonight, and I just I have to accept that. I have to move on. I have to be willing to just work on improving that for the rest of the tournament,” Alvarez said.
“That was like the one thing of my game I didn’t feel any rhythm in. I’m back there. I was trying to get myself collected, trying to breathe and all that stuff. But at the end of the day, sometimes you just don’t feel it,” he said.
