Costa Rica’s Julian Araya and Jhostin Varela successfully defended their titles at one of the Caribbean’s most prestigious beach volleyball events.
They claimed back-to-back gold medals at the NORCECA U23 beach volleyball tour with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) victory over El Salvador’s Christopher and Yoel Guardado in the final on 22 June.
The tournament, hosted on Seven Mile Beach, showcased elite beach volleyball talent from across the NORCECA region, with crowds gathering to witness world-class competition.
Araya and Varela showed composure throughout the competition, overcoming a thrilling semifinal against the USA’s Ayden Keeter and Carson Barnes, a press release said.
After dropping the first set and facing two set points in the second, the Costa Rican duo rallied for a remarkable comeback, winning 2-1 (15-21, 26-24, 15-10) to advance to the gold medal match.
Asked what it took to get to the final and win, Varela said: “It was hard work, after winning a couple of weeks ago in the Dominican Republic, we trained for this.
Araya added: “It’s been many days and hours of practice, training hard to be in good condition is difficult and we are very proud of winning another gold medal.”
The Guardado twins of El Salvador also earned their place in the final with a gritty 2-1 (18-21, 21-15, 15-12) victory over Canada’s Brandon Burnside and Reed Venning, staying calm under pressure to force and win a decisive third set.
In one of the most exciting matches of the tournament, Keeter and Barnes bounced back from their semifinal disappointment to take the bronze medal with a hard-fought 2-1 (18-21, 21-17, 15-12) win over the Canadian pair Burnside and Venning.
The match was packed with momentum swings and drew strong applause from the local crowd gathered at Seven Mile Beach.
Cayman teams
Local interest centred on the Cayman Islands teams, with Stephen Watson and Dylan Lynee securing seventh place with a close victory over Daniel Delgado and José Guevara of Guatemala.
The local pair, competing on home sand, held on in the second set to win 2-0 (21-13, 23-21), delighting the home supporters.
In other Cayman Islands results, Van Dam and Chisholm finished 14th after falling to the US Virgin Islands’ Anderson and Rojas in straight sets, 2-0 (21-15, 21-17).
In the final placement match, Cayman’s Duty and Cardenas closed the tournament with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) victory against Brown and Wathey from the US Virgin Islands to secure 15th place.
In the battle for fifth place, Canada’s Charles Ellinas and Colin Lash delivered a dominant performance, defeating Julian Briston and Clarique Ward of St Kitts and Nevis in straight sets, 2-0 (21-9, 21-16).
For ninth place, Miguel and Morrison of Trinidad and Tobago staged an impressive comeback to defeat Nkoya and Taylor of Barbados in three sets, 2-1 (17-21, 21-17, 15-13).
Jamaica’s Blake and Softley claimed 11th place with a solid 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) victory over the Aruban duo of Coutinho and Kock.
Women’s tournament
Meanwhile on the women’s side, Alexis Durish and Audrey Koenig of the United States claimed the gold medal at the NORCECA U23 Beach Volleyball Tour, but local fans had plenty to cheer about with strong performances from home teams on Seven Mile Beach.
Anjia Delapenha and Joanna Robinson delivered the tournament’s standout performance for the Cayman Islands, securing fifth place with an impressive straight-sets victory over Guatemala’s Ana Sofía Arévalo and Danna Aguilar, 2-0 (21-16, 21-12).
Durish and Koenig dominated the competition with a commanding 2-0 (21-10, 21-14) victory over Costa Rica’s Sofia Vega and Laura Molina in the final.
The American duo went undefeated throughout the tournament, not dropping a single set en route to the title.
After winning the gold medal, Audrey Koenig said: “It was a great tournament, set up nicely and it was just the chemistry we had together to take us to the final.”
She added: “I call this jumper-sand, because it helps us get up a lot in our offence and take some pretty nice swings.”
Alexis Durish said: “We had an amazing staff taking care of our bodies the whole weekend,” adding: “Our coach Nick Lucena (two-time Olympian) did some good scouting for us.”
The Cayman Islands fielded a second team in Luna Ebanks and Brianna Delapenha, who finished 12th after falling to Trinidad and Tobago’s L’fe Robers and Meeka Johnson in straight sets, 2-0 (21-17, 21-14).
In the bronze medal match, El Salvador’s Karla Tovar and Daniela Vigil defeated Barbados’ Sierra Rayside and Destiny Layne 2-0 (21-16, 21-10) to secure third place.
Tovar and Vigil had previously fallen to Durish and Koenig in the semifinals 2-0 (21-11, 21-8), while Vega and Molina earned their place in the final by overpowering Rayside/Layne of Barbados (2-0: 21-7, 21-5).
Canada’s Ariel Forgarty and Bailey Royston secured seventh place after a thrilling three-set match against Bermuda’s Megan Hands and Hailey Moss. The Canadians came from behind to win 2-1 (19-21, 21-19, 15-11).
For ninth place, fellow Canadians Claire Neagle and Nolyn Houben cruised past the US Virgin Islands’ Brooklyn Donovan and D’Keisha Jordan with a dominant 2-0 (21-11, 21-9) victory.
In the 13th-place match, Hensley Philip and Alwani of St Kitts and Nevis claimed a 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) victory over Jamaica’s Sibblies and Brandy.
