Altomare and Bukovec could make a big splash in Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala, April 15, 2013 – Canada’s Victoria Altomare, winner of a silver medal at the 2011 U-21 FIVB World Beach Volleyball Championships, will team up with Sophie Bukovec to compete at the Gatorade Guatemala Tournament, the third leg of the NORCECA Circuit, next weekend.

The Toronto natives Altomare and Bukovec are two of the most promising Canadian players and they are not strange to the international competition.

The 5-foot-10 Altomare, 20, paired up with Melissa Humana-Paredes to claim an unprecedented silver medal at the U-21 event held in Halifax, Canada as the first Canadian women ever to stand on the podium at an FIVB event.

The 6-foot-2 Bukovec, 17, who represented Canada at the 2011 U-19 FIVB World Championship in Cyprus and the U-21 World Championship in Halifax, is using the NORCECA Circuit event as part of her preparation to compete again in the age-group world championships to be held in Cyprus and Croatia later this year.

Buokovec is one of the most accomplished young beach volleyball players of Canada and has been dividing her time between outdoor and indoor training. She recently was recruited by McMaster University to play volleyball.

Altomare, the daughter of an Italian father and Australian mother, hopes to represent Canada at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.