The heat is on in Gatorade Beach Volleyball Tournament in Guatemala
The second event of NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit started off in Guatemala on Friday, April 8.
The Gatorade Beach Volleyball Tournament in Guatemala invited a total of 35 beach volleyball duos, which included 17 women’s and 18 men’s teams. The teams were divided into five pools, while the tournament progressed with single elimination bracket.
After proper allotment in pools, the teams settled in the following manner:
Men:
Pool A: Canada-1, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad Pool B: Puerto Rico, Honduras, El Salvador, Pool C: Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala-1, U.S. Virgin Islands Pool D: United States-1, Cayman Islands, Canada-2, Guatemala-2, Pool E: Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Cuba, United States-2.
Women:
Pool A: United States-1, Honduras, El Salvador Pool B: Mexico-1, Trinidad, Canada-2, Pool C: Canada-1, Nicaragua, Cuba, Pool D: Puerto Rico-1, Dominican Republic, Mexico-2, Guatemala-2, Pool E: Costa Rica, Guatemala-1, United States-2, Puerto Rico-2.
In the men’s division, the duo of Christian Redmann and Benjamin Saxton of Canada-1 clashed with Trinidad & Tobago’s Fabien Whitfield and Daniel Williams. The Canadian duo exhibited a wonderful performance and proved to be better side. The match spanned
over two sets, while both sets were captured by Canadian players.
The Trinidad & Tobago players could not penetrate the fierce spikes of opponents and ended up with 0-2 (11-21, 15-21) defeat in the tournament opener.
The second match in men’s Pool A featured teams from St. Kitts & Nevis and Trinidad & Tobago. After losing the opening match to tough Canadian tandem, the duo of Fabien Whitfield and Daniel Williams tried their luck against underdog team from St. Kitts &
Nevis.
The members of the SKN Team, Carl Steadroy Collins and Kemoroy Percival couldn’t stand the heavy strike of rival side and finished first set with very low score. They could only help 6 points, while Whitefield/William touched the finish line (21-6)
The second set of the match did not bring better luck for SKN duo. Nonetheless, they put up a good fight and raised their score to 16 but still it was not enough to save them from defeat. The duo of Whitefield/William quickly covered the length of second
set and claimed match victory.
In the women’s section, USA-1 and El Salvador opened the tournament. The duo of Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik represented USA, while El Salvador team was comprised of Marcela Avalos and Dina Romero. The match started out with nice, easy and relaxed actions.
Both sides took their positions in the court and exchanged the serves. The U.S. players poised their feet on the sand and attacked the opposite side with a variety of shots. Gradually, it became only one-sided affair as El Salvador side totally collapsed in
the hands of American team.
Jenny Kropp put her magic in the game and showed no mercy in hitting deadly cross court shots. They scored consecutive points and at the same time hindered the performance of opponents. The El Salvadorian team accepted the better status of Americans at 8-21.
The second set of the match also came successful for U.S. team. They restricted the opponents to a low score and launched their authority on them. The weak defence of the El Salvador caused a lot of damage to them. They lost the second set with a huge margin
of 16 points. Victory graced Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik.
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