Four from Barbados for Norceca beach volleyball

Serena Edwards, Destiny Layne, Ronald Rice, and Jonathan Alleyne are representing the national colours in San José, Costa Rica, this weekend. On Friday they began competition on the sand courts of La Sabana Metropolitan Park, which is hosting the ninth and final stage of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour December 6-8.

Over three days of competition, the top men’s and women’s duos from the North, Central America, and Caribbean Confederation will battle for top honors.

The women’s pair of Edwards and Layne met the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) and Costa Rica in the opening round of play.

The USVI had the better of their earlier encounter, Austin and Buckner winning 2-0 (21-9, 21-11). The second-seeded Costa Rican team of Aguilar and Quesada defeated the 10th-seeded Bajans 2-0 (21-11, 21-14). El Salvador are the fourth team in Pool B.

The men, Rice and Alleyne, were set to take on USVI, as well as Nicaragua and Mexico, in Pool C. The Nicaraguan duo of López and López, seeded third, won 2-0 (21- 10, 21-16) over 11 seed Barbados. Bucklin and Penberthy of USVI, seeded sixth, also won 2-0 (21-13, 21-10).

The event also features women’s teams from the United States of America (USA), Canada, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic.

On the men’s side, teams from Saint Kitts & Nevis, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Canada, and the USA are entered.

A total of 31 teams registered for the event, 16 in the men’s division and 15 in women, divided into four pools per gender.

This marks the second time in history that Costa Rica is hosting a NORCECA Tour stage, having previously hosted the 10th stage in 2013, also at La Sabana Metropolitan Park.

Among the standout athletes, Nicaragua’s Dany López, who won gold in the sixth stage in Puerto Cortés, Honduras, alongside Rubén Mora, is partnering Dennis López in San José.
From Canada, Luke De Greeff, who earned bronze in the eighth stage in San Salvador and the seventh in Bonaire alongside Martin Licht, will now partner with Guillaume Rivest.

Mexico returns to the tour after missing several 2024 stages, fielding four teams. The host, Costa Rica, will present three women’s teams and two men’s teams. (TF)