T&T's Under-23 men’s beach volleyballers Jerome Morrison and Jahreef Miguel will contest the playoff for positions 13th to 14th when the seventh leg of the NORCECA Continental Beach Volleyball Tour concludes at Tabyana Beach in West Bay, Roatan Island, Honduras Sunday.
This was after Morrison and Miguel beatEric Sommer and Cole Sommer 21-9, 21-15 in 29 minutes in their 13th to 16th semifinal and will meet Hondurans Irvin Reyes and Jairo Gálvez after the latter pair won against Bermudans Benjamin Barnett and Connor Somerville 21-19, 21-12 in the other semifinal.
Earlier Saturdayy morning, Morrison and Miguel ended at the bottom of Pool A round-robin play with a 0-3 round-robin record despite a spirited effort in a 23-25, 19-21 loss to Hondurans Isaac Mendez and Jonathan Ortega.
On Friday's opening day of competition, Morrison and Miguel were beaten in their Pool A opening match by Guatemalans Edgar Maldonado and José Miguel Izaguirre 13-21, 20-22 in 39 minutes, followed by a 9-21, 16-21 loss to Mexico's Inés Antonio Vargas and Carlos Andrés Ayala.
Vargas and Ayala defeated Méndez and Ortega 21-11, 21-9 and Maldonado and Izaguirre 21-13, 21-9 in their pool decider to top the pool with a 3-0 record while Maldonado and Izaguirre took the second spot with a 2-1 mark after their 21-11, 21-10 defeat of Mendez and Ortega for their second win also on Friday.
For the Sean Morrison-coached T&T pair, the tournament is serving as vital preparations ahead of the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from July 25 to 31, where they will compete in Group D of the 20-team round-robin pool stage against teams from El Salvador, Cuba, Belize, and Antigua & Barbuda.
In Pool B, Costa Ricans Julián Araya and Stanley Grant completed a 3-0 mark following a 21-14, 21-8 beating of USA's Devin Perez and Wesley Jensen to add to victories over Benjamin Barnett and Connor Somerville of Bermuda 21-11, 21-10 and Canada-A's Louis Charbonneau and Henry Heider 21-19, 21-15.
Charbonneau and Heider ended in the runner-up spot thanks to their wins over Perez and Jensen 21-18, 19-21, 15-11 and Barnett and Somerville 21-15, 21-14 while Perez and Jensen had a 21-16, 21-15 win over the Bermudans.
Dominicans Hayerling De Jesús and Oscar Martínez emerged as the winners of Pool C following their decisive win over Canadians Guillaume Rivest and Martin Licht 21-16, 21-13 to add to victories against US Virgin Islands' Eric Sommer and Cole Sommer 21-10, 21-5; and host duo Kevin Flores and Juan Menjivar, 21-1, 21-8.
Licht and Rivest won their two other matches, 21-14, 21-11 against Flores and Menjivar, and 21-11, 21-1 over Eric Sommer and Cole Sommer, while Flores and Menjivar ended with a win against the Sommers, 21-19, 21-11.
In Pool D, Nicaragua’s Ruben Mora and Jefferson Cascante played unbeaten with wins over Honduras' Irvin Reyes and Jairo Gálvez 21-4, 21-16; Puerto Rico's William Rivera and Daniel Rivera 21-18, 17-21, 15-13; and El Salvadoreans Rafael Vargas and Gabriel Vargas 21-15, 21-12.
The Riveras ended in the second spot thanks to their wins over the El Salvador pairing 21-8, 21-18; and Reyes and Galvez 213, 21-12, while the El Salvador pair beat Reyes and Galvez 21-17, 21-17 in the other match.
In the main draw quarterfinals, Vargas and Ayala defeated Licht and Rivest 21-14, 21-16; Mora and Cascante topped Charbonneau and Heider 22-20, 21-18 and De Jesús and Martínez humbled Maldonado and Izaguirre 21-8, 21-12, while Araya and Stanley Grant came up against the Riveras in the latter match. The tournament ends Sunday.
