US Teams book slots in the quarter-final of NORCECA Beach Circuit – Volleyball news
The second tournament of the NORCECA (North & Central America and Caribbean Confederation) Beach Volleyball Circuit is having an amazing run in the city of Guatemala this week.
After completing the first stop in Grand Cayman Islands, the NORCECA Beach Circuit has made the next stop in the city of Guatemala. The double-gender tournament in Guatemala started off on Friday, 8th April, while 35 beach volleyball duos entered the competition.
Four teams from United States joined the competition. The two U.S. Women’s duos displayed a great game on the sands of Guatemala and clawed their way to the quarterfinals, which are supposed to take place on Sunday. On the other hand, only one male duo of
USA could survive until the quarter-final stage.
Kropp/Pavlik vs. Flores/Euceda 2-0 (21-10, 21-5)
Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik formed the first American team of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tournament. Both the dynamic Americans sparked on the scene with a stunning performance and dominated the opponents in every match they appeared. They finished
the preliminary robin round with maximum points in Pool A of ladies.
In the quarter-final qualifying match, they crossed their ways with Gina Flores and Martha Euceda of Honduras. The team from Honduras was ranked as an average team and it did not create a scare of defeat on the U.S. duo.
Jenny showed her expertise and opened the match with powerful serves. She varied the length of serves and helped her side go higher in the early few minutes. Her short serves created real trouble for the opponents. They picked up a lead and added consecutive
points to stretch the gap of points. The good defence of Whitney Pavlik and heavy strike of Jenny Kropp helped them finished the opening set with a final score of 21-10.
The rhythm and tone was already set for U.S. duo and they took full advantage of the victory in first set. The confident cross-court shots of Jenny banged the court. Martha Euceda of Honduras attempted to bring a little stability but most of her efforts
went futile. The American player totally launched their authority on the opposite side and fairly claimed the match by posting 21-5 in second consecutive set.
USA-2 vs. Puerto Rico 2-0 (21-14, 21-11)
Jennifer Snyder and Erin Gray of USA-2 defeated Puerto Rican Beatriz Rivera and Yaileen Torres in the final pool play match, which promoted them in the quarter-finals.
The match started out with an exchange of fast jump-serves from both sides. Puerto Rican players were up for the challenge, while U.S. players have the confidence of previous games. Gradually, the game picked up more pace and turned into a heated competition.
Snyder hit convincing shots and pushed the Puerto Rican behind the attack line.
Puerto Rico played defensively and committed a few silly mistakes. The American team took full advantage of the situation and took the game away from Puerto Rican. The first set inched its way to the end, while American duo was graced with first-set win.
After capturing the first set, the American duo put more pressure on the rivals. They kept on hitting prolific shots and tightened the screws of Puerto Rican ladies. Snyder and Gray had good chemistry between them and they seized victory in the second set
without much difficulty. They posted 21-11 and declared match victory.
In the men’s division, Mike Bruning and Jason Wight of USA-1 proved to be the best team in Pool A. They remained unbeaten in the robin round and defeated Richard Campbell and Olney Thompson of Cayman Islands in the last pool play match. They posted 21-9
and 21-17 in two sets and settled for victory.
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