American Samoa and Wallis & Futuna snatch the volleyball titles at Palau 2025
FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported pairs from Vanuatu and Australia triumphed as Pacific Mini Games beach volleyball champions. Vanuatu’s Majabelle Lawac & Sherysyn Toko (pictured in the main photo; credits: VASANOC) took the women’s gold, while Australia’s Finley Bennett & Jed Walker topped the men’s podium.
Another Australian duo, Jasmine Rayner & Kayla Mears, claimed women’s silver, while Guam’s Austia Mendiola & Kristen Serrano completed the podium with bronze. Logan Jon Mister & Andrew Scott Johnson from Northern Mariana Islands and Sakiusa Naivana Vaka & Wilisoni Loga from Fiji earned the men’s silver and bronze medals. In volleyball, American Samoa, Tahiti and Wallis & Futuna lined up on the women’s podium. Wallis & Futuna snatched the men’s gold as well, accompanied by Papua New Guinea with silver and Tahiti with bronze on the podium.
The Vanuatu Amateur Volleyball Federation’s beach volleyball department has been funded with USD 430,500 in coach support, USD 6,000 in a national team coaches development knowledge transfer program and USD 40,000 in equipment from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. The Vanuatu teams have been benefitting from the expertise of coach Robert Francis from the United Kingdom. Volleyball Australia’s beach volleyball department has so far been granted a total of USD 378,000 worth of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national teams on the sand. Switzerland’s Michael Suter, Australian Olympian and 2007 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship bronze medalist Joshua Slack and their staff have been working with the women’s duos, while Brad Tutton, Max Roiuk and Joey Yigit have been in charge of the men’s pairs’ coaching staff.
At the Pacific Mini Games, second-seeded Majabelle Lawac & Sherysyn Toko brought Vanuatu the women’s beach volleyball gold medal after cruising through the tournament in Palau without dropping a single set in four matches played. In the semifinals, they mastered a 2-0 (21-14, 21-14) win over Guam’s Austia Mendiola & Kristen Serrano, and in the final, Lawac & Toko celebrated a hard-fought 2-0 (22-20, 21-18) victory over third-seeded Australians Jasmine Rayner & Kayla Mears.
It was the first setback Rayner & Mears suffered in Palau. They crowned their perfect run of four straight-set wins in a row with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-11) sweep of their semifinal against Gladys Pressence & Tekela Fiafialoto of Wallis & Futuna. Mendiola & Serrano took the bronze upon a 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) victory over Pressence & Fiafialoto in the third-place match.
Women’s beach volleyball results and standings
Australia’s Finley Bennett & Jed Walker did not drop a set in the men’s tournament either. The second-seeded team dominated with six clean sweeps in a row, crowned with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) gold medal victory over Logan Jon Mister & Andrew Scott Johnson from Northern Mariana Islands. Before that, in the semis, the Australians put together a 2-0 (21-10, 21-11) shutout of Fiji’s Sakiusa Naivana Vaka & Wilisoni Loga.
In their semifinal, Mister & Johnson squeezed out a tight 2-1 (21-18, 19-21, 15-13) win over Hevanoa Vaki & Rautini Cary of Tahiti to secure a spot on the podium. Vaka & Loga bounced back to claim the bronze with a 2-0 (21-12, 21-19) victory over Vaki & Cary.
Men’s beach volleyball results and standings
The men’s team of Wallis & Futuna swept the volleyball tournament in Palau with six consecutive 3-0 victories to triumph with the Pacific Mini Games gold. In the semis, they hammered out a 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-21) win over Micronesia and, in the gold medal showdown, they mastered a 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-23) victory over Papua New Guinea.
In their semifinal, Papua New Guinea guaranteed themselves a medal with a 3-1 (18-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-21) comeback against Tahiti, who later joined them on the podium with bronze after a 3-0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-14) blowout of Micronesia in the third-place game.
Men’s volleyball results and standings
American Samoa started off in the women’s volleyball tournament with a five-set loss to Fiji, but then reacted with five straight-set wins in a row on the way to the final. They finished off their campaign with another five-setter, but this time they came out the winning end of a 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 20-25, 15-13) gold medal showdown against Tahiti, who settled for silver.
In the third-place game, Wallis & Futuna produced a 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-20) win over Fiji to celebrate the bronze.
Women’s volleyball results and standings
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