Day and Hughes find gold in Chula Vista

CHULA VISTA, USA, September 30, 2012 – Emily Day and Heather Hughes defeated their compatriots Summer Ross and Morgan Beck in an all-USA women’s gold medal match on Sunday at the 2012 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit event at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

Day and Hughes beat Beck and Ross 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) in 39 minutes on a hot and breezy day in the community near San Diego, Calif.

“It was awesome to have a USA-USA final. That was fun,” Day said.

“It was fun to battle each other out in the final,” Hughes added. “It’s always good to play steady and play your best toward the end of the season.”

Beck and Ross, who recently started playing together, kept the pressure on Day and Hughes, who have played together for two years. But Day and Hughes used consistent passing and serving to pull out the victory.

Mexico’s Martha Revuelta and Bibi Candelas beat Canada’s Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas for the bronze medal, 2-1 (17-21, 22-20, 15-9).

In the semifinals, Day and Hughes had to battle to defeat Revuelta and Candelas, defeating them 2-1 (24-26, 21-14, 15-8) in 1 hour, 1 minute.

Beck and Ross had an easier time beating Broder and Valjas, 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) in the other semifinal.

Sunday’s Results

Semifinals: USA3 d CAN 2-0 (21-15, 21-15), USA1 d MEX 2-1 (24-26, 21-14, 15-8) Bronze medal: MEX d CAN 2-1 (17-21, 22-20, 15-9) Gold medal: USA1 d USA3 2-0 (21-19, 21-17)

Classification 9-13: USA5 d CRC (Forfeit), USA5 d DOM 2-0 (21-11, 21-14), GUA d LCA 2-0 (21-16, 21-9)