The North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation (NORCECA) held the fifth stop on the NORCECA 2024 Beach Tour in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Oct. 1 – 4.
The male and female divisions were made up of 14 teams in this high-profile event. The participating countries were Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Trinidad & Tobago, the United States of America, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (ISV).
T’ara Austin and Taylor Buckner represented ISV in the women’s bracket. William Shaw Clement and Garrett Bucklin competed on the men’s side for the Virgin Islands.
Austin and Buckner found themselves wedged in a tough three-team pool with one of the USA teams and the Cuban duo. ISV faced Cuba first and came away with a (21-12; 21-11) straight-set win. The USA team was next and Austin and Buckner gave them all they could handle. The match started with ISV winning the opening set (22-20). The ladies from the United States came back strong, taking the second set (21-13). The ladies from America’s Paradise were not rattled as they came out swinging in the rubber set. However, Austin and Buckner lost that deciding set (18-16). Despite the loss, ISV qualified for the quarterfinals, where they met Darlenys Olivo and Crismil Paniagua from the Dominican Republic. Austin and Buckner pulled off the second major win of this event, stunning the host team (21-16; 21-12).
ISV took on Amy Ozee and Kaylee Glagau from Canada in the semi-finals. That duo was too much for Austin and Buckner as they fell (21-16; 21-17). Things did not get much better for ISV in the third-place game, a rematch of their pool play game against USA. The USA team came out more focused and beat ISV (21-16; 21-13). Austin and Buckner finished in fourth place.
ISV men were equally impressive as their female counterparts at this event. Bucklin and Clements of ISV were paired with Tynan Gannett and Rouzbeth Rahnavard from Canada, Ryck Webb and Martin Blake from Jamaica, and Melvin De Jesus and Alexander Wilmore from the Dominican Republic. ISV started pool play with a convincing win over fellow Caribbean country Jamaica (21-15; 21-11). Host Dominican Republic didn’t fare any better against Bucklin and Clements as the team from the Virgin Islands surfed to a (21-14; 21-9) win. The Canadian team was up next. The Virgin Islands team pushed Canada to the limits but came up just short in both sets. Canada escaped with a (24-22; 26-24) victory.
The second-place finish in pool play earned Bucklin and Clements a spot in the quarter-finals, where they took on Martin Licht and Robert Kemp, the second Canadian team. ISV beat Licht and Kemp in straight sets (24-22; 21-17). The second team from the Dominican Republic was waiting for ISV in the semi-finals. Like the ISV ladies, Bucklin and Clements battled hard but in the end lost the match in three sets (19-21; 21-13; 15-9). The third-place match gave ISV the opportunity to avenge their pool play loss to Gannett and Rahnavard. However, Bucklin and Clements dropped this match in straight sets (21-12; 21-11).
Both teams’ fourth-place finishes were impressive. The next event on the 2024 Beach Volleyball Tour is the U23 Continental Tournament, which will be held from Oct. 6 – 10. ISV has entered one male and one female team in this event.
Here are the final standings for the beach tournament in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic:
WOMEN
- Hodel / Durish USA
- Ozee / Glagua CAN
- Whalen / Phillips USA
- Austin / Buckner ISV
- Hladyniuk / Thorup CAN
- Olivo / Paniagua DOM
- Molina / Aguilar CRC
- Vigil / Tovar ESA
- Silva / Lolette NCA
- Taveras / Ramirez DOM
- Drik / Paret CUB
- Robinson / J. Robinson CAY
- Arevalo / Aguilar GUA
- Lumsden / Smith JAM
MEN
- Gomez / Veranes CUB
- De Jesus / Maldonado DOM
- Gannett / Rahnavard CAN
- Bucklin / Clements ISV
- Prima / Wieczorek USA
- Meneses / Lopez NCA
- Licht / Kemp CAN
- Jesario / Watson CAY
- Guardado Y. / Guardado C. ESA
- Barnett / Tucker BER
- Webb / Blake JAM
- Theodore / Enile TTO
- De Jesus / Wilmore DOM
- Izaguirre / Ventura GUA
