American duo clinches success at 3rd NORCECA Beach Circuit Tournament
The North & Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Federation (NORCECA) featured its third event of the regular season in Boca Chica, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic from April 20-24.
The double gender competition welcomed a total of 36 beach volleyball duos, which included 20 men’s and 16 women’s pairs from 17 countries. There have been some wonderful and breath taking performances on the centre court during the NORCECA Tournament. The
competition rounded off on Sunday, April 24 and revealed the final rankings.
In the women’s section, American duo of Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik reached the highest level. They maintained a great rhythm throughout the tournament and settled for the gold ware. They clashed with their compatriots Ashley Ivy and Lisa Rutledge in
the final match on Sunday. The all-American final match attracted huge number of spectators to the beach, who added another flavour in the game.
The pairing of Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik was fully prepared to take on the country mates in final match. They opened the match with powerful jump-serves. Pavlik was known for her amazing serve skills. She took bigger run-ups and also threw the ball
at various lengths. The short serves by Pavlik created much of trouble for the opponents.
Ivy and Rutledge seemed heavily influenced the by the strong competitors. They attempted attacks from different angles but Kropp and Pavlik stood in the way of their spikes. Ivy/Rutledge were restricted to a low score as Kropp and Pavlik picked up a lead
of 8-5. In the meanwhile, Ivy tried to dig for a difficult shot and bumped on Rutledge.
The awkward move caused her severe knee injury. She collapsed after the mishap and game was immediately stopped. Ivy was not in position to resume the play. Hence, Kropp/Pavlik were declared the winners. The official score of the game was considered as 21-5
and 21-0.
Kropp and Pavlik had an amazing run in all their matches. The duo was highly praised for their perfect timing. They are currently enjoying a top form and it is expected that they will attain more success in the upcoming NORCECA Beach Circuit Tournaments.
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