T&T women’s team of Britney Choon and Tsyan Selvon ended in fourth spot while the men’s duo of Nicholas Williams and Joshua Persaud placed fifth when the inaugural North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) Under-23 Beach Volleyball Tour hosted by the Cayman Islands Volleyball Federation which ended at Seven Miles Beach, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, on Sunday.
The local pairing of Choon and Selvon, unbeaten locally in their age group throughout their career and winners of two Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) U-23 Women Beach Volleyball Tournaments held in T&T in August, went under to Americans Alexis Durish and Hailey Hamlett 6-21, 4-21 in a one-sided third place encounter.
When the seven-team tournament served off on Saturday, Choon and Selvon were beaten in their opening Pool B match by another USA duo, Ella Connor and Piper Ferch, 12-21, 11-21 in 32 minutes before regrouping to defeat Cayman Islands’ teams of Anjia Delapenha, and Lucie Finlason 13-21, 21-13, 15-10 in 50 minutes, and Brianna Delapenha and Joanna Robinson, 21-18, 21-8 in 26 minutes for a 2-1 record and second spot.
In the quarterfinals, the T&T women got past their third Cayman Islands team on the trot, Deajra Tulloch and Chlouie Gaetos, 21-13, 21-13, before falling in the semifinals to top-ranked Canadians Ruby Sorra, and Kaylee Glagau, who ended in the second spot in Group A, 9-21, 11-21.
In the other semifinal, Connor and Ferch outplayed countrywomen Durish and Hamlett 21-17, 21-13, who topped Group A before beating Sorra and Glagau in a tense final, 18-21, 21-11, 22-20
Williams, Persaud secure fifth spot
In the men’s competition which also featured seven teams, Williams and Persaud avenged a round-robin pool loss to Jamaicans Andrew Blake and Andrae Bobb, 25-23, 21-16 in 42 minutes in their fifth-placed playoff.
On Saturday in their Group B round-robin series, Williams and Persad who had a gold and silver medal finish CAZOVA Men’s U-23 Beach Volleyball Tournaments held in T&T in August started with a comfortable win over Cayman Islands’ Declan Van Dam, and Jabari Powery 21-10, 21-7 in 25 minutes.
However, the T&T men then suffered back-to-back losses to USA A’s Dylan Mc Clung and Caleb Blanchette (13-21, 13-21), Blake, and Bobb (20-22, 16-21) to finish with a 1-2 record and in third spot.
In the quarterfinals, Williams and Persaud were also beaten by Group A runners-up, Canada’s Trent Ketrzynski and Rouzbeh Rahnavard, 10-21, 15-21.
Following a bye in the losers’ quarterfinals, Williams and Persaud then got a chance at revenge against the Jamaicans which they exacted to end their tournament on a high.
The USA ‘B’ team of Thomas Hurst and Gage Basey won the gold medal via their 23-21, 17-21, 15-11 victory against Ketrzynski and Rahnavard, which came after 62 minutes.
In the semifinals, Hurst and Basey swept past fellow Americans Mc Clung and Blanchette 21-11, 21-11 while Ketrzynski and Rahnavard battled past Arubans Eddy Toro Maldonado, and Johanne Winklaar, 24-22, 21-12.
Prior to the start of the tournament, T&T’s Mushtaque Mohammed, the CAZOVA president and Norceca Supervisor for the event addressed the players and noted the importance of developing this category in the Confederation, in accordance with the Norceca and FIVB focus on beach volleyball for the next two Olympic cycles.
Mohammed said, “These youth athletes are the future of beach volleyball in our region and we are five years ahead of the preparation not only for the Olympic Games but for other major events such as the Central American and Caribbean Games, Pan American Games, Caribbean Beach Games, Commonwealth Games as well as the Youth Olympic Games.”