T&T's Jahreef Miguel and Jerome Morrison secured the bronze medal when the inaugural CAZOVA Under-21 Beach Volleyball Championship Boys Division ended at Seven Miles Beach, Cayman Island on Thursday (June 19).
After suffering heart-breaking three-set semifinal defeats, both the T&T and Jamaica teams were eager to end their campaign on a positive note.
However, it was the T&T pair of Miguel and Morrison who triumphed via a strong performance to defeat Jamaica’s Love-Let Blake and Ithran Softley in straight sets, 21-15, 21-12, to join the top two teams of Barbados and Cayman Islands as qualifiers to the NORCECA Qualifier Tournament for the World Championship.
In the gold medal match, Nkoya Williams and Aaron Taylor of Barbados prevailed over Cayman Islands’ Stephen Watson and Dylan Lynee in three sets.
William and Taylor bounced back after dropping the first set, winning the second and then sealing the match when an injury forced their opponents to withdraw, with a final score of 19-21, 21-13, 15-0.
Earlier on in the semifinals, Watson and Lynee rallied after dropping the first set, overcoming Miguel and Morrison 21-23, 21-15, 15-8 to advance to the final while Williams and Taylor staged a comeback to defeat Blake and Softley in a thrilling three-set match, 16-21, 21-19, 15-6 as well.
When the six-team tournament served off with pool play, Williams Duty and Dimitri Cardenas opened with a straight-sets win over Blake and Softley 21-15, 21-17 in Pool B, but fell to Miguel and Morrison 13-21, 15-21, who went on to top the group after also Blake and Softley 21-19, 21-14.
Watson and Lynee secured two victories in Pool A, defeating the US Virgin Islands’ Armani Anderson and Aden Rojas 21-14, 21-6 before edging Williams and Taylor 15-21, 21-19, 15-12.
The Barbadians bounced back with a win over the US Virgin Islands 21-13, 22-20 to finish second in the group before going on to claim gold.
Anderson and Rojas overcame a three-set battle 17-21, 21-16, 15-8 against Duty and Cardenas for fifth place.
Johnson, Roberts fourth in Girls U-21
The local women's team of L'fe Roberts and Meeka Johnson fell one win short of the bronze medal after going under to Anjia Delapenha and Joanna Robinson of Cayman Islands 18-21, 6-21.
Despite the defeat, Roberts and Johnson earned a spot in the NORCECA Qualifier Tournament for the World Championship alongside Cayman Islands, and Barbados due to the host having two teams finish among the top three.
In a thrilling display of skill and resilience on home sand, Brianna Delapenha and Luna Ebanks clinched the women’s gold medal when they edged out Barbados’ Destiny Layne and Sierra Rayside in a hard-fought three-set final, 21-10, 14-21, 15-9.
Layne and Rayside secured their spot in the final with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Roberts and Johnson 21-9, 17-21, 15-9 while Delapenha and Ebanks triumphed in the all-Cayman Islands semifinal showdown, rallying past Delapenha and Robinson 18-21, 21-19, 15-5.
In pool play action, both Cayman Islands' teams delivered dominant performances to top their respective groups and advanced with confidence.
In Pool A, Delapenha and Robinson overcame a strong challenge from Layne and Rayside 21-15, 18-21, 15-10, before cruising past Jamaica’s Brandy McCarthy and Damia Sibblies 21-5, 21-9 while in Pool B, Delapenha and Ebanks were equally impressive, defeating the US Virgin Islands’ Brooklyn Donovan and D’Keisha Jordan 21-9, 21-9, and following up with another straight sets win over Roberts and Johnson 21-19, 21-13.
Johnson and Roberts ended in the second spot in the pool via their 21-13, 22-20 defeat of Donovan and Jordan.
The pair of McCarthy and Sibblies finished fifth place with a 21-11, 21-15 victory over Jordan and Donovan.