T&T's women's team of Nancy Joseph and Ayana Dyette, and the Under-23 men's pairing of Tevin Joseph and Tarandath Deonath will resume their quest for a podium finish when the third leg of the 2014 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit at the historical colonial city of Antigua, Guatemala from today until Sunday.
The double-gender competition has a total of 12 countries represented by 16 men and 15 women teams, including the six medalists during the second stage in Campo Marte at Guatemala City, last weekend.
Heather Hughes and Christal Engle (USA-A) will seek to be in the podium once again, they won the bronze at Cayman Islands and took the gold at Guatemala when Karen Cope and Natalia Alfaro (Costa Rica) weren't able to continue. Cope/Alfaro will fight to be among the finalists in their quest for a first ever gold medal for players from Costa Rica.
Also on the women's side, Tealle Hunks and Kimberly McGiven-Dicello (USA) along with Cubans Lianma Flores and Leila Martinez will be strong contenders in Antigua Guatemala.
Nivaldo Diaz with Sergio Gonzalez of Cuba are looking to repeat last week's gold and will have to play at their best against Americans Derek Olson and Kevin Mc Colloch who will looking to avenge the loss suffered last week.
Last weekend, Joseph and Dyette were 12th placed finishers of the 16 teams in the Gatorade-sponsored second-leg after the top ranked local pairing missed out on a quarterfinal spot.
The T&T women were beaten in their final Pool C round-robin match by Mexicans Diana Valdez and Stephanie Burnside 17-21, 14-21 on Saturday
A day earlier, Joseph and Dyette, who were coming off an 11th placed finish in the tour opener in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands last weekend, were beaten by USA-A's Heather Hughes and Christal Engle, bronze medal winners in Cayman Islands, 10-21, 9-21 but rebounded to beat Barbadians, Shari Matthew and Anicia Wood 21-16, 21-19.
In the semifinals, Hughes and Engle were extended to three sets before beating Flores and Martinez 21-16, 22-24, 15-9 while Cope and Alfaro upset USA-B duo, Hunkus and Dicello 21-13, 11-21, 15-13.
Hughes and Engle of USA-B triumphed in the final, beating Cope and Alfaro of Costa Rica by 2-1 (21-14, 24-26, 15-0).
The Americans took the gold without having to finish the third set, as Alfaro suffered a bee sting and was unable to continue.
And in the bronze medal contest, Hunkus and Dicello still made the podium winning 21-15, 21-17 over Flores and Martinez.
In the men's competition, local Under-23 duo, Joseph and Deonath who are using the first three legs of the tour as preparations for the upcoming FIVB World Under-23 Championships in Myslowice, Poland, from June 10-15 ended in cellar-spot of the 15 teams.
The T&T Under-23 duo were beaten in their Pool A opener against Guatemala-A, Andy Blanco and Erick Garrido 10-21, 10-21 before they forfeited against silver medal winners in Cayman, USA-A's William Montgomery and Stafford Slick due to a shoulder injury to Joseph.
When the tour served off in Cayman a week ago, the T&T boys had a miserable outing and ended winless (0-4) in their five-team Pool C round-robin series for 14th out of 15 participants. The third leg takes place also in Guatemala this weekend with both T&T teams entered to compete.