Membership
Courtney Nelson
Intern, Communications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-mail: courtney.nelson@usav.org
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 21, 2012) - The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team of Michelle Moriarty (Houston, Texas) and Traci Weamer (Upland, Calif.) finished second at the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour event on May 18-20 in Chiapas, Mexico.
The U.S. men’s team of David Smith (Denver, Colo.) and Skylar del Sol (Elizabeth, Colo.) had a tougher time with the competition, finishing sixth out of 18 teams.
In the women’s competition, which started with pool play and moved into a single-elimination bracket, Moriarty and Weamer went 2-0 in pool play and carried that momentum through the next two matches. In the first round of bracket play, the Americans pushed past Puerto Rico’s Dariam Acevedo and Tatiana Encarnacion 21-19, 21-19.
In the semifinals, which took place May 20, Moriarty and Weamer defeated Canada’s Caleigh Whitaker and Victoria Altomare 21-16, 21-14.
In the final, Cuba proved too much to handle, as Moriarty and Weamer fell to Niriam Sinal and Ion Canet, 22-20, 25-23.
Moriarty and Weamer finished the tournament with a record of 4-1 and won $1,000.
On the men’s side, which was a double-elimination bracket, Cuba’s Karrel Pina and Sergio Gonzalez took the top spot, while the American team of Smith and del Sol finished sixth.
The U.S. easily defeated the Mexico 3 team of Juan Orozco and Alberto Gomez 21-10, 21-11 in the first round of play. The second round resulted in another win for the Americans, this time over the Virgin Islands’ Marc Lomeli and Anthony Pippen 21-14, 21-8.
Round three placed Smith and del Sol against Cuba (names?) in what would be the Americans’ first loss of the tournament, 21-14, 21-10.
Despite putting up a fight, the red, white, and blue fell to the Mexico 2 team of Ricardo Galindo and Juan Revuelta for its second loss of the weekend, 21-19, 23-21.
Smith and del Sol finished the tournament with a 2-2 record and won $300.
The NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour will resume on May 23-29 in Toluca, Mexico.