U.S. Beach Teams Win NORECA Silver, Bronze

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

Final Tournament Bulletin

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (Aug. 29, 2010) – The Mexican men’s team of Aldo Miramontes and Juan Virgen and the Puerto Rican women’s team of Yarleen Santiago and Dariam Acevedo won gold on Sunday at the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit event at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.

U.S. beach teams won the silver and bronze medals in the women's bracket and the bronze medal in the men's.

Miramontes and Virgen won a 21-13, 24-22 battle over Puerto Rico’s Roberto Rodriguez and Orlando Irizarry in the gold medal match. The finished the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record.

The Mexican team had to keep its cool in the second set of the final when it went from four-point lead to trailing by one.

"We had a strategy but we had to change that strategy between sets,” Virgen said through a translator. “What we were doing wasn’t working. Puerto Rico was hitting the ball faster than we expected."

In the men’s bronze medal match, the USA-2 team of Seth Burnham (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and Andy McGuire (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) defeated the USA-3 team of Will Montgomery (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Evan Barry (San Diego, Calif.), 21-17, 21-12.

The NORCECA tournament was the first time Burnham and McGuire had partnered and they were happy with the result.

"We had to really communicate and get a feel for each other," Burnham said. "The Mexican team was really tough, but we handled everything else pretty well."

In the women’s gold medal match, Santiago and Acevedo avenged their loss in their first pool play match to the USA-5 team of Tealle Hunkus (Girard, Ohio) and Heather Lowe (Cypress, Calif.), defeating the Americans, 21-19, 18-21, 15-13.

On Friday, the Puerto Ricans lost to Hunkus and Lowe, 21-15, 21-19.

"When we got here, we had not played together in more than a month," Santiago said. "We had lost our rhythm.

"(The victory) means a lot since it’s been a month since we played together and even though we didn’t play well, we still played well enough to win."

The USA-1 team of Lynne Galli (San Diego, Calif.) and Kelly Brunning (Mesa, Ariz.) won the bronze medal with a 21-14, 21-16 victory over the USA-3 team of Michelle Moriarty (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and Heather Hughes (Fallbrook, Calif.).

"I thought we did some amazing things at this tournament," Brunning said. "I thought we played well, even though the outcome wasn’t quite what we hoped for."

The NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit will be played next on Sept. 25-27 in Tijuana, Mexico.

NORCECA Beach Circuit Event
Chula Vista, Calif.

Aug. 29 Results

Women’s Gold Medal
Santiago/Acevedo (PUR) def. Hunkus/Lowe (USA-5), 21-19, 18-21, 15-13

Women’s Bronze Medal
Brunning/Galli (USA-1) def. Moriarty/Hughes (USA-3), 21-14, 21-16

Women’s Semifinals
Hunkus/Lowe (USA-5) def. Brunning/Galli (USA 1), 22-20, 21-16
Santiago/Acevedo (PUR) def. Moriarty/Hughes (USA-3), 21-14, 21-19

Men’s Gold Medal
Miramontes/Virgen (MEX) def. Rodriguez/Irizarry (PUR), 21-13, 24-22

Men’s Bronze medal
McGuire/Burnham (USA-2) def. Montgomery/Barry (USA-3), 21-17, 21-12

Men’s Semifinals
Rodriguez/Irizarry (PUR) def. Montgomery/Barry (USA-3), 21-14, 22-20
Miramontes/Virgen (MEX) def. McGuire/Burnham (USA-2), 21-11, 21-13

Aug. 28 Results

Women’s Pool 1
Santiago/Acevedo (PUR) def. Morales/Alforo (CRC), 21-15, 21-17
Hunkus/Lowe (USA-5) def. Moriarty/Hughes (USA-3), 21-13, 21-17

Women’s Pool 2
Brunning/Galli (USA-1) def. Orellana Aragon/Ramirez (GUA), 21-9, 21-13
Sather/Day (USA-2) def. Ross/Roenicke (USA-4), 21-14, 18-21, 15-13

Men’s Pool 1
Drost/Maghy (USA-4) def. Beukema/Gregan (USA-1), 29-27, 21-13
Sandoval/Alvarez (CRC-2) def. Osorio/Vargas Coreeas (ESA), 21-17, 19-21, 15-12
Guerara/Escobar (CRC-1) def. Sandoval/Alvarez (CRC-2), 21-18, 23-21
Drost/Maghy (USA-4) def. Osorio/Vargas Coreeas (ESA), 21-12, 21-12

Men’s Pool 2
Miramontes/Virgen (MEX) def. Montgomery/Barry (USA-3), 21-12, 21-19
McGuire/Burnham (USA-2) def. Gonzalez/Garrido (GUA), 21-12, 21-13
Rodriguez/Irizarry (PUR) def. McGuire/Burnham (USA-2), 21-18, 21-14
Montgomery/Barry (USA-3) def. Gonzalez/Garrido (GUA), 21-11, 21-18

Women’s Single Elimination
Hunkus/Lowe (USA-5) def. Orellana Aragon/Ramirez (GUA), 21-19, 21-16
Brunning/Galli (USA-1) def. Morales/Alforo (CRC), 21-19, 21-16
Santiago/Acevedo (PUR) def. Ross/Roenicke (USA-4), 21-17, 21-17
Moriarty/Hughes (USA-3) def. Sather/Day (USA-2), 21-15, 21-13

Men’s Single Elimination
Montgomery/Barry (USA-3) def. Drost/Maghy (USA-4), 13-21, 23-21, 15-12
Rodriguez/Irizarry (PUR) def. Guerara/Escobar (CRC-1), 21-18, 21-15
McGuire/Burnham (USA-2) def. Beukema/Gregan (USA-1), 21-11, 21-12
Miramontes/Virgen (MEX) def. Sandoval/Alvarez (CRC-2), 21-15, 21-16

Aug. 27 Results

Women’s Pool 2
Sather/Day (USA-2) def. Brunning/Galli (USA-1), 23-21, 10-21, 23-21
Ross/Roenicke (USA-4) def. Orellana Aragon/Ramirez (GUA), 21-11, 21-12
Brunning/Galli (USA-1) def. Ross/Roenicke (USA-4), 21-14, 21-16
Sather/Day (USA-2) def. Orellana Aragon/Ramirez (GUA), 21-13, 23-21

Men’s Pool 1
Beukema/Gregan (USA-1) def. Osorio/Vargas Coreeas (ESA), 21-19, 21-19
Drost/Maghy (USA-4) def. Guerara/Escobar (CRC-1), 19-21, 21-17, 15-10
Drost/Maghy (USA-4) def. Sandoval/Alvarez (CRC-2), 21-13, 21-13
Beukema/Gregan (USA-1) def. Guerara/Escobar (CRC-1), 19-21, 21-19, 15-11
Guerara/Escobar (CRC-1) def. Osorio/Vargas Coreeas (ESA), 19-21, 21-19, 15-11
Sandoval/Alvarez (CRC-2) def. Beukema/Gregan (USA-1), 18-21, 21-15, 15-13

Men’s Pool 2
Miramontes/Virgen (MEX) def. Gonzalez/Garrido (GUA), 21-6, 21-4
Rodriguez-Irizarry (PUR) def. Montgomery/Barry (USA-3), 21-14, 21-19
McGuire/Burnham (USA-2) def. Montgomery/Barry (USA-3), 19-21, 21-19, 16-14
Miramontes/Virgen (MEX) def. Rodriguez/Irizarry (PUR), 21-19, 21-23, 15-11
Rodriguez/Irizarry (PUR) def. Gonzalez/Garrido (GUA), 21-11, 21-15
MIramontes/Virgen (MEX) def. McGuire/Burnham (USA-2), 21-15, 21-15

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, NORCECA, NORCECA Beach Circuit