U20 Beach Teams Sweep Gold, Bronze Medals at NORCECA U23 Event

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 31, 2022) – U.S. U20 beach teams swept the gold and bronze medals on Sunday at the inaugural NORCECA U23 Beach Volleyball Tour event in the Cayman Islands.

Ella Connor/Piper Ferch won the women’s gold while Thomas Hurst/Gage Basey took the men’s title.

NORCECA EVENT PAGE

Alexis Durish/Hailey Hamlett won the women’s bronze medal and Dylan McClung/Caleb Blanchette took the men’s bronze.

In the women’s final, Connor/Ferch outlasted Canadians Ruby Sorra/Kaylee Glagau to win, 2-1 (18-21, 21-11, 22-20).

For the bronze medal, Durish/Hamlett beat Britney Choon/Tsyan Selvon of Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 (21-12, 21-14).

In the men’s final Hurst/Basey beat Trent Ketrzynski/Rouzbeh Rahnavard of Canada in a battle, 2-1 (23-21, 17-21, 15-11).

The bronze medal match saw McClung/Blanchette defeat Eddy Toro/Joshua Winklaar of Aruba, 2-0 (21-16, 21-18).

Both genders had semifinals that were all-U.S. teams. For the women, Connor/Ferch beat Durish/Hamlett 2-0 (21-17, 21-13). On the men’s side, Hurst/Basey defeated McClung/Blanchette, 2-0 (21-11, 21-11).

U.S. Team for the NORCECA U23 Beach Volleyball Tour
Cayman Islands

WOMEN
Name (Height, Hometown, School, USAV Region)
Ella Connor (6-1, Kihei, Hawaii, Cal Poly, Moku O Keawe)
Alexis Durish (5-10, Venice, Fla., Florida State, Lone Star)
Piper Ferch (5-10, Seattle, Wash., Cal Poly, Puget Sound)
Hailey Hamlett (5-11, Bulverde, Texas, TCU, Lone Star)

MEN
Name (Height, Hometown, School, USAV Region)
Gage Basey (6-5, Lyons, Colorado, Colorado, Rocky Mountain)
Caleb Blanchette (6-5, Brentwood, Tenn., Ravenwood HS, Southern)
Thomas Hurst (6-3, Plano, Texas, University Prep, North Texas)
Dylan McClung (6-7, North Kingstown, R.I., Sacred Heart Univ., New England)