T&T’s men and women’s beach volleyball teams of Daneil Williams/Joel Theodore and Rheeza Grant/Malika Davidson will both be playing in the playoffs for fifth to eighth spots when the final day of the 2019 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit sixth stage in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, serves off from 9 am Sunday.
In the men’s main draw, Williams and Theodore were ousted in their quarterfinal by Canada’s Jake Mac Niel and Liam Kopp in 41 minutes, 16-21, 15-21 and will now come up against Martinique’s Brice Hardy-Dessource and Martel Bosqui, after the latter pair was beaten by Mexico’s Rubio and Gaxiola 16-21, 12-21.
The other semifinal will see Nicaraguans Ruben Mora and Denis Lopez facing USA’s Brandon Joyner and Michael Boag after their last-eight wins over Bahamians Jon Isaacs/Wilmott 21-13, 21-6 and St Lucians Gillian Octave and Augustine Faulkner 21-11, 21-17.
When competition served off on Friday, Williams and Theodore, playing in a four-team Pool C round-robin series, swept past Anguillans Da’Qwan Fredericks and Calivon Vanterpool 21-7, 21-6 and then whipped St Lucia-B duo Curtney Germaine and Tevin St Jean 21-8, 21-10.
And on Saturday in their pool decider, Williams and Theodore were beaten in a one hour and 21-minute marathon by USA’s Brandon Joyner and Michael Boag, 22-20, 19-21, 30-32
Joyner and Boag defeated Germaine and St Jean 21-9, 21-11 and Fredericks and Calivon Vanterpool 21-8, 21-10 in their first two matches.
In the women’s draw, Grant and Davidson will contest the playoffs for positions fifth to eighth after losing their main draw quarterfinal to USA’s Geena Urango and Emily Hartong 9-21, 6-21.
When the T&T women resumed Pool C round-robin play earlier on, they defeated Dominican Republic’s Deanny de la Cruz and Julibeth Payano 21-18, 21-12 in a must-win match to finish with a 1-2 record and qualify for the quarters as one of the two best third-placed finishers in the 11-team competition.
On Friday, Grant and Davidson were beaten by Canada’s Molly McBain and Becky Tresham 15-21, 8-21 and then suffered a tough 18-21, 21-17, 12-15 loss to Guatemalans Estefanie Bethancourt and Natalia Girón.
Bethancourt and Giron also humbled De La Cruz and Payano 21-18, 21-11, while McBain and Treshman outplayed De La Cruz and Payano 21-15, 21-8 in the other matches to improve to 2-0, and yesterday the Guatemalans beat Mc Bain and Tresham 21-15, 18-21, 15-13 to win the pool.
On Sunday, Davidson and Grant will come up against Bethancourt and Giron in the losers’ semifinals for positions fifth to eighth in a rematch of their Pool C round-robin clash from Friday, after the Central Americans fell to Puerto Rico’s Maria Gonzalez and Bianca Torres 16-21, 18-21 in their quarterfinal.
The main draw semifinals will see Gonzalez and Torres facing USA’s Geena Urango and Emily Hartong while Mexico’s Zaira Orellana and Martha Revuelta come up against Mc Bain and Tresham, both from 10.40 am.