FIVB Volleyball Empowerment beneficiaries from Canada and Mexico make NORCECA Finals podiums

• Canada’s Schachter & Dearing finish runners-up at NORCECA Tour Finals with coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment

  
  

• Also with FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support, Mexico’s Torres & Gutierrez grab the women’s bronze

  
  

• US pairs triumph as continental champions in both genders

  
  

• Canadian women and Cuban men collect the remaining medals

  
  

The NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour Finals took place from 12 to 14 May in Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic, where two teams benefitting from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support lined up among the medallists. Canada’s Samuel Schachter & Daniel Dearing took the men’s silver, while Mexico’s Susana Torres & Atenas Gutierrez climbed on the women’s podium with bronze.

Two pairs from the United States triumphed as continental champions. Molly Shaw & Chloe Loreen defeated Canada’s Sarah Pavan & Molly McBain in the women’s final, while Miles Evans & Chase Budinger lifted the men’s trophy. Rising Cuban stars Jorge Alayo & Noslen Diaz settled for the men’s bronze.

The men’s podium at the Juan Dolio NORCECA Tour Finals (Photo credits: NORCECA)

Volleyball Canada has so far been allocated CHF 72,000 worth of coach support for their men’s national beach volleyball pairs and they have been training under the guidance of coach Josh Nichol. 34-year-old Schachter & Dearing entered the NORCECA Tour Finals as the ninth-seeded team in the men’s main draw. They rushed to the gold medal match on the wave of five consecutive wins, dropping only a set along the way, in their 2-1 (18-21, 21-18, 15-7) semifinal against sixth-seeded Miguel Sarabia & Gabriel Cruz of Mexico. In Tuesday’s final (pictured in the main photo; credits: NORCECA), the Canadians put up a tight fight against one of the strongest American pairs, third-seeded Evans & Budinger, but had to concede in straight sets, 2-0 (21-18, 21-19). For the pairing of Schachter & Dearing, the Juan Dolio silver was the fourth continental medal in a row.

Evans & Budinger, on the other hand, crowned their first NORCECA Tour appearance as a team with gold. They did so in an emphatic manner, winning all six of their matches in Juan Dolio and dropping only a set in one of their pool-stage matches. In the semifinals, the Americans mastered a 2-0 (21-9, 21-17) sweep of their encounter with second-seeded Alayo & Diaz.

The Cuban pair bounced back with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-14) sweep of the bronze medal game to pick up their 10th medal in a total of 10 appearances on the NORCECA Tour so far.

Men’s results and standings

Susana Torres & Atenas Gutierrez in action during the bronze medal match (Photo credits: NORCECA)

Federacion Mexicana de Voleibol has so far been allocated a total of CHF 900,000 worth of coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment and a large share of that funding has been tagged for their national teams in beach volleyball, now working under the supervision of Argentinean coach Ruben Barrera. Mexico’s beach volleyball programme has also received CHF 9,500 worth of beach volleyball equipment. Third-seeded Torres & Gutierrez achieved four back-to-back wins in Juan Dolio to reach the semifinals, where their victorious run was stopped by second-seeded Americans Shaw & Loreen. The 23-year-old Mexicans recovered with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) sweep of the third-place match against top-seeded Julibeth Payano & Crismil Paniagua of the Dominican Republic to claim the bronze, their third continental silver in as many NORCECA Tour appearances as a team.

The fifth-seeded Canadian pairing of former world champion Sarah Pavan with Molly McBain won the other semifinal against the home favourites by a convincing 2-0 (21-10, 21-12) to secure their second NORCECA Tour medal in two participations as a duo, after taking silver in the 2023 Finals at the same venue in December. This one was silver again following their loss to Shaw & Loreen in Tuesday’s final showdown. The American pair mastered a 2-0 (21-14, 21-14) straight-setter to triumph on top of the podium at their NORCECA Tour debut. About a month earlier, Shaw & Loreen also celebrated gold at their Beach Pro Tour debut at the Pirae Tahiti Futures.

Women’s results and standings

The women’s podium at the Juan Dolio NORCECA Tour Finals (Photo credits: NORCECA)

16 men’s and 16 women’s teams, representing 18 different countries, took part in the Juan Dolio Finals. The next stop on the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour will be in Managua, Nicaragua from 13 to 17 June.