U.S. Beach Teams Each Finish Fourth in Puerto Vallarta

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 14, 2010) – U.S. beach volleyball teams finished fourth in both the men’s and women’s brackets on Oct. 15-17 at the NORCECA Beach Circuit event in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

The event, which was the finale of the 2010 NORCECA Circuit, was treated as a rehearsal for the 2011 Pan American Games. Puerto Vallarta will host the beach volleyball tournament in 2011, although most of the competition will take place in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The U.S. women’s team of event Cayley Thurlby (Naperville, Ill.) and Kim McGiven DiCello (San Diego, Calif.) advanced to Sunday’s semifinals with a 2-1 record after defeating teams from Guatemala and Cuba, while falling to Mexico’s Martha Revuelta and Xitlali Herrera.

In the semifinals, Thurlby and DiCello fell to Puerto Rico’s Yarleen Santiago and Dariam Acevedo, 21-14, 21-16. The bronze-medal match was a rematch with Revuelta and Herrera and the U.S. team lost, 21-15, 21-18.

On the men’s side, the USA1 team of Marcin Jagoda (Tarzana, Calif.) and Mike Diehl (Huntington Beach, Calif.) advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 record, with the only loss coming to the Mexico 2 team of Ulises Ontiveros and Lombardo Ontiveros.

In the semifinals, Jagoda and Diehl fell to the Mexico1 team of Juan Virgen and Aldo Miramontes, 21-9, 21-14. In the bronze medal match, the U.S. lost again to the Ontiveros brothers, 21-13, 21-13.

The U.S. Men’s No. 2 team of John Wankner (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Kevin Lynch (Venice, Calif.) did not advance to the semifinals and finished with a 1-2 record.

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, NORCECA Beach Circuit