T&T's women pair Apphia Glasgow and La Teisha Joseph, crashed out of the 17-team 2015 Norceca Beach Volleyball Tour opener after a disappointing quarterfinal loss to USA-A's Traci Weamer and Kendra Vanzweiten at the scenic Seven Miles Beach, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands in a creditable fifth spot, yesterday.
The T&T youngsters had surprised all by qualifying with a 3-1 record from its round-robin pool but it seemed the occasion of coming up against the formidable American got to them in a 1-21, 5-21 loss in a match which lasted 24 minutes.
The first set loss, saw T&T fall behind 0-18, before Vanzweiten served long, only for Glasgow to hand the initiative back to her opponents, by serving into the net.
Despite the loss, the T&T duo secured a first ever top eight finish with their final positioning based upon the other quarterfinal results which were yet to be contested.
Earlier yesterday, Glasgow and Joseph defeated Panama's Kilary Perez and Hashlyn Cuero, 21-14, 23-21 to improve to 3-0, before dropping their first match of the tournament, 12-21, 17-21 in their Pool B decider with Canada-A's Claudia Seguin and Alexandra Poletto, who finished 4-0.
When the tournament served off on Friday, the T&T women enjoyed a sluggish 21-18, 17-21,15-6 victory over Belize's Emma Hoare and Kelsey Balderamos before outlasting Cayman Islands-A teenaged pair of Ileann Powery and Chante Smith-Johnson, 21-7, 21-17.
In Pool A, USA-A's Weamer/Vanzweiten swept aside Cayman Islands-B pair, Jessica Wolfenden and Stefanie Gandolfi, 21-9, 21-9; Puerto Ricans' Lina Bernier and Eva Torruella 21-19, 21-19 and Nicaraguans Elia Machado and Lolette Rodriguez 21-12, 21-10 to end with 3-0 as well.
Canada-B players Julie Gordon and Brandie Wilkerson joined their countrywomen in the last-eighth by first battling past Costa Ricans, Natalia Alfaro and Karen Cope 21-19, 21-10; Hondurans, Gina Flores and Martha Euceda, 21-5, 21-10, and Jamaica's Sash-Lee Wallen and Kai Wright or Alfaro/Cope, 21-12, 21-17 in Pool C. And in Pool D, USA-B's Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik first got past the difficult pair of Cubans, Lianma Flores and Leila Martinez 24-22, 21-13; Guatemalans Natalia Giron and Esteanie Bethancourt, 21-7, 21-7, and St Lucians, Dania Hamilton and Kerin Vincent, 21-, 21-. In yesterday's other quarterfinals, Canada-A faced Puerto Rico, USA-B tackled Costa Rica, and Canada-B went up against Cuba. The semifinals and finals are carded for today.
Whitfield, Williamsmiss out on quarters
The top T&T men's team of Daneil Williams and Fabien Whitfield will play for positions ninth to 16th after coming up short in their must-win Pool A match against USA-B duo, Derek Olson and William Kolinske, 11-21, 17-21. With the loss, T&T ended with a 1-2 record in the four-team group, while USA-B was second with a 2-1 mark, behind Canada-A's Felipe Humana and Christian Redmann, who ended 3-0.
On Friday, Williams and Whitfield, who won nine straight qualifying tournaments hosted by the T&T Volleyball Federation in February and March began their campaign with a 21-11, 27-25 victory over Nicaraguans, Ruben Mora and Gerson Contreras but was then humbled by Humana and Redmann, 14-21, 23-21, 15-17. Canada's-B team of Garrett May and Daniel Dearing of Pool B; two-time winners in Cayman Islands, Puerto Ricans, Roberto Rodriguez and Erik Haddock (Pool C) and Pool D, duo Cubans, Nivaldo Diaz and Sergio Gonzalez, three-time winners on the circuit last year all advanced to the quarterfinals with 3-0 records as well.
In the quarterfinals, Humana/Redmann faced Pool B runners-up, USA-A's Mark Burik and Curt Toppel while Diaz/Gonzalez battled Pool C second placed team, Diego Alpizar and Julio Alvares of Costa Rica.
And in the other half of the draw, May/Dearing came up against Olson/Kolinske while Rodriguez/Haddock met Pool D runners-up, Carlos Escobar and David Vargas.