NORCECA Beach Volleyball circuit 2010: Gold medal victory by Puerto Women team in Chula Vista
The four-day exciting beach volleyball tournament in Chula Vista, California completed its 7th leg and concluded amazing results in the women section. The fire was ignited on Friday, 27th August 2010, when the tournament started with double gender matches. The activity ended on 29th August and announced the top teams in both men and women categories.
Puerto Rico- Gold medallist
The women’s pair from Puerto Rico proved their steel in the game and clinched gold-ware on Sunday at the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tournament. The competitions were held at Olympic Training Centre in Chula Vista, California, USA. The outstanding pair comprising of Yarleen Santiago and Dariam Acevedo made their way to the final stage and swept off the opponents’ feet with an extraordinary game. The final match of the tournament saw Tealle Hunkus and Heather Lowe of America head-to-head in a heated competition with Puerto Rican pair. Hunkus and Lowe represented the USA-5 team.
It was their second meeting in the tournament, as both teams contested the first pool-play match on Friday, 27th August 2010. Quite ironically, Puerto Rico was embarrassed after receiving defeat in two straight sets. Hunkus and Lowe claimed victory by posting 21-15 and 21-19. Afterwards, the two teams appeared in their respective matches and covered the stages of the tournament for a second interaction. It provided Santiago and Acevedo a chance to take revenge from their rival American team.
Lo and behold!
The sweet revenge was taken by the Puerto Rican pair, as they won the important gold-medal match against USA-5. The final match lasted for three sets and Santiago/Acevedo pulled off 2-1 victory. In the first set, Puerto Rico earned points with long jump-serves and tricky bump passes helped their lead over competitor side. The American team also got their best out and chased the score. A few ball-handling errors put them in the blue region and Puerto Rico took advantage of the situation. In the end, Santiago and Acevedo got a kill to score 2 points’ victory at 21-19.
The raged-up American women reacted violently in the second set and hit better shots. They covered the net and blocked Santiago’s spikes. The situation favoured Hunkus and Lowe and they were able to influence their competitors. The game advanced in the same fashion and USA-5 paved their way to dominate Puerto Rico. The U.S. team won the second set with a margin of three points.
The third crucial set started with a very fast pace. Team actively jumped on every single point and availed each volley. The tension dominated the scene, as the game headed to the ending point. Puerto Rico was on heavy strike and pushed the American team to the back-court area. Hunkus and Lowe followed the score and didn’t seem to accept Puerto Rican influence. Somehow, Santiago and Acevedo managed to steal points from USA-5 and declared 15-13 victory by a powerful under-hand shot.
Santiago was happy with their victory but she disclosed the inner feelings at the end of match. She said, “When we got here, we had not played together in more than a month. We had lost our rhythm. The victory means a lot since it’s been a month since we played together and even though we didn’t play well, we still played well enough to win.”
Hunkus and Lowe of USA-5 finished as runner up team and settled down for silver medal. In the bronze medal match, Lynne Galli and Kelly Brunning of USA-1 clashed with USA-3 team of Michelle Moriarty and Heather Hughes. USA-1 defeated their compatriots and collected the bronze medal.
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