Membership
B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org
Men's Bulletin * Women's Bulletin
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 31, 2012) – Both the U.S. women’s team of Jenny Kropp (Hawthorne, Calif.) and Whitney Pavlik (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and the U.S. men’s team of Matt Heagy (Phoenix, Md.) and Tony Pray (Tucson, Ariz.) have advanced to Sunday’s semifinals of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour event in Guatemala.
The two teams took different routes to the semis.
Kropp and Pavlik won their second pool play match on Saturday over the Guatemala 2 team of Nadia Galan and Anna Villagran, 21-8, 21-11 in 25 minutes to win their pool and advance to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Kropp and Pavlik beat Brenda Allen and Shanicia Dyer of Saint Kitts & Nevis, 21-7, 21-8 in 23 minutes to advance to Sunday’s semifinals, where they will face Anthazia Mason and Shari Matthews of Barbados.
On the men’s side, Heagy and Pray, who lost their first match of the double-elimination tournament on Friday, had to win three matches in the consolation bracket on Saturday to reach the semifinals.
First, the pair defeated David Toussaint and Jullian Seraphine of Dominica, 21-16, 21-9 in 30 minutes. Next, they beat El Salvador’s Luis Morales and Carlos Escobar, 23-21, 21-14 in 40 minutes. Finally, Heagy and Pray topped Fabien Whitfield and Daniel Williams of Trinidad & Tobago, 21-13, 20-22, 15-8 in 44 minutes.
In Sunday’s semifinals, Heagy and Pray will go up against Andy Blanco and Erick Garrido of Guatemala 1.