Theo Brunner and Nick Lucena fought off a challenge from compatriots

CHULA VISTA, California, October 6, 2013 –The USA-B team of Theo Brunner and Nick Lucena fought off a challenge from compatriots Tri Bourne and John Hyden of USA-A on Sunday to win the men’s title, 21-19, 17-21, 15-13 at the NORCECA Beach Circuit event at the U.S Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.

In the bronze medal match, Puerto Rico’s Hector Soto and Roberto Rodriguez defeated the Canada-B pair of Michael Plantiga and Cameron Wheelan, 21-19, 17-21, 15-12.

Brunner and Lucena finished the tournament with a 5-0 match record and 10-1 in sets. Lucena hoped the win would set the team on a better course for the end of the season.

“I’m hoping to finish the year strong and playing well with Theo,” Lucena said. “Theo has only been playing a couple months and he’s getting better every tournament. This is a good tournament for us because we’ve had two bad tournaments in a row.”

After Brunner and Lucena won the first set, they fell behind Bourne and Hyden in the second set, 10-3 and went on to lose 21-17.

“I figured it would go three. We didn’t play well in the second set and they made a lot of plays,” Lucena said. “We just got lucky in the third set, to tell you the truth. They’re a good team.”

In Sunday’s men’s semifinals, Brunner and Lucena beat Plantiga and Wheelan, 21-16, 21-18 while Bourne and Hyden defeated Rodriguez and Soto, 21-18, 21-15.

The NORCECA Beach Circuit will move on to St. Lucia on Oct. 11-13.

Men

Semifinals: USA-A d PUR 2-0 (21-18, 21-15), USA-B d CAN-B 2-0 (21-16, 21-18)