Las Vegas, New Mexico - The Pacific Mini Games concluded earlier this month in Koror, Palau, and a pair of incoming players for New Mexico Highlands Volleyball were part of the competition. The event, held from June 29th to July 9th, featured nearly 1,500 athletes, representing 24 teams from different countries and territories, competing in 14 sports.
Freshman
Heiress Palepoi was on the American Samoa squad that captured a Gold Medal while senior
Martinaya Dornic earned a Bronze Medal representing her home of Wallis-et-Fortuna. Both players will be in Las Vegas when the Cowgirls open preseason workouts in mid-August.
Palepoi comes to NMHU from Tafuna High School in American Samoa, where she played a key role in leading her team to an Island Championship volleyball title last season. She was coached by Anthony Ta'atiti at Tafuna, who also served as the head coach of the American Samoa national team in Palau.
Palepoi, however, almost didn't compete for American Samoa in the games, as she was focused on preparing for her transition to college. But with encouragement from her parents, she decided to play in Palau.
"My parents encouraged me to stay on the team and use it to add experience and skill to help me as I look forward to joining our NMHU volleyball family," she explained.
Dornic is a transfer who comes to NMHU after playing at Cal State-Los Angeles in the competitive California Collegiate Athletic Association last season. She was previously the Most Valuable Setter of her U21 French Club. For Dornic, this was not the first time she competed in the Pacific Games.
"This was my second time representing my country for the Pacific Games," said Dornic. "My coach from Wallis-et-Futuna wrote to me in December asking me to be part of the team again because I'm one of the girls who plays overseas and they needed a certain high level for that competition."
Both players see benefit from the experience as they prepare for the upcoming season at New Mexico Highlands.
Dornic, coming off an injury last season, used the games, in part, to prove that she is healthy and ready to compete again.
"After my injury last fall, I used this experience as an opportunity to gain confidence in my play. And that was a funny experience because I ended up playing libero midway (through the tournament)," she explained. "I was having fun, and having these emotions made me realize that the wait and rehab were worth it. Now I'm more than ready to be back on the American court for this new season with NMHU."
For Palepoi the experience will help her as she makes the transition to life on the college campus. "This experience helped me learn how to support my teammates and adjust to busy schedules, things I hope to bring with me to NMHU. I also adjusted to changing environments (time difference, culture difference, language barriers) all while making sure I could condition myself to stay focused on our team goals and keeping my body and mind healthy and strong for the games," she said. "I also think that making friends with so many people of different backgrounds will benefit me as our team meets new roster mates and we learn to mesh with each other. I can't wait to meet the girls and coaching staff."
An unexpected benefit for Dornic and Palepoi was competing against and getting to know someone who will be a teammate at New Mexico Highlands.
"It was a fun opportunity to connect with someone I'll be attending school and playing with this fall," said Palepoi. "I liked seeing Naya play and getting to know her off the court as well. On top of that, both of our countries performed well and were able to celebrate and dance together after the medal ceremony, which is one of my favorite memories from the games."
Dornic added, "It's always a pleasure. I had the same experience with a former teammate at Cal State LA, she was playing for American Samoa and we met at the Pacific Games in 2019. But each person is special. I was really excited when I was telling people that Heiress will be my teammate at NMHU. We bonded naturally and I'm very proud of what we did out there."
Asked about where she will keep her Gold Medal, Palepoi said that it's going on the living room mantle alongside her dad's travel mug collection.
As for Dornic's medal, she's still thinking about it.
"I planned on leaving it at my mom's house," she said. "But I want to keep it with me at the same time."
The Cowgirls open the 2025 regular season on September 5th when they square off against Eastern New Mexico at the Mustang Volleyball Invitational in Silver City.
Palau 2025 Pacific Mini Games homepage
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