• Submitted by: manso
• Sports
• 04 / 12 / 2011

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April 11th, 2011 6:45 pm ET. Beach volleyball pairs from Canada and Cuba won the NORCECA tournament on Sunday in Guatemala City, Guatemala.

The North American, Caribbean, and Central American regional tour hosted its second event of the season that attracted dozens of teams from 13 regional countries.

The Canadian women’s couple, Heather Bansley and Elizabeth Maloney, avenged a bronze medal performance at the season-opening NORCECA event, by defeating Americans Jennifer Snyder and Erin Grey, 21-18, 21-16.  Snyder and Grey are rising athletes on the U.S. pro circuit.

From the initial pool play, through the single elimination rounds, the Canadian pair swept through the competition.   “We struggled at the beginning of the day, but we were patient in the final match and it worked well for us,” said Bansley in a NORCECA press release.

Ranked 73rd in the Federation Internationale de Volleyball world standings, Mexicans Juan Virgen and Aldo Miramontes fought a determined Cuban duo to win the men’s title.  In a battle to the finish, they edged the Cuban tandem, Karel Peña and Javier Jimenez, 21-19, 20-22, 15-8.

“It feels good to begin with a victory and my partner, Juan did a splendid job,” said Miramontes.

The next NORCECA contest will be held in the Dominica Republic as London 2012 Olympic hopefuls contend in the next round of the Continental Cup.

By Tom Burke.Beach Volleyball Examiner

Source: www.examiner.com/beach-volleyball-in-national/