Boca Chica event set to open with pairs from 17 countries

BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic, April 21, 2011 – The Boca Chica Beach Volleyball Tournament, a double gender event part of the NORCECA Circuit, begins on Friday with 20 men’s and 16 women’s pairs representing 17 countries.

The participating countries are: Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curazao, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, México, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, St Kitts & Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago, United States and U.S. Virgin Islands.

This is the third NORCECA Beach Volleyball competition of the year with the two previous being held at Cayman Islands and Guatemala.

The male pairs will be divided into five pools while the female teams will be distributed in four pools with a single elimination format for the main draw.

The women’s teams will play a round robin only to determine their ranking to the main draw. The top three teams of each men pool will advance to the bracket with the last spot going to the fourth placed team with best points-ratio.

The Boca Chica Beach Volleyball Tournament has become an annual tradition during the Easter Sunday weekend at the popular beach 20 miles to the east of Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic’s capital.

Last year’s winners were Mexicans Aldo Miramontes and Juan Virgen in the men’s division and Puerto Ricans Yarleen Santiago and Dariam Acevedo among the women’s pairs.

Canadians Richard Van Huizen and Josh Binstock (men) and American Brooke Hanson and Lauren Fendrick (women) claimed the titles at Grand Cayman on March 27 and Miramontes/Virgen and Canadians Heather Bansley and Liz Maloney were crowned at Guatemala City on April 10.

Men’s teams: Ryan Vanderburg/Andrew Hinchey (CAN-1), Martin Reader/Chaim Schalk (CAN-2), Sherving Ranking/Olney Thompson (CAY), Gilberto Villegas/Alexander Villegas (CRC), Karel Peña/Javier Jiménez (CUB), Giandro Tokaay/Quinten Anthony (CUR), Yewddy Perez/German Recio (DOM), Jeovanny Medrano/David Vargas (ESA), Andy Leonardo/Erick Garrido (GUA), Randall Vigil/Manuel Serrano (HON), Juan Virgen/Aldo Miramontes (MEX-1), Ulises Ontiveros/Lombardo Ontiveros (MEX-2), Arnaldo Castro/Alfredo Castro (NCA), Roberto Rodriguez/Christopher Underwood (PUR-1), Pablo Guzman/Luis Rodriguez (PUR-2), Shawn Seabrookes/St. Clair Hodge (SKN), Fabien Whitfield/Daneil Williams (TRI), William Strickland/Aaron Wachtfogel (USA-1), Steven Vander Werp/Mark Van Zwieten (USA-2), Theodore Dorsett/Leon Smith (ISV).

Women’s teams: Jamie Broder/Eve Danserau (CAN-1), Jaclyne Jallos/Cindy Phillips (CAN-2), Jennifer Bily/Cristin Alexander (CAY), Ingrid Morales/Natalia Alfaro (CRC), Kirenia Reyna/Imara Estevez (CUB), Samira Luis/Christine Anthony (CUR), Ginette Del Rosario/Gina Del Rosario (DOM), Diana Romero/Marcela Avalos (ESA), Maria Orellana/Rut Gomez (GUA), Gina Flores/Marta Euceda (HON), Cheryl Daley/Cherine Richards (JAM), Diana Estrada/Martha Revuelta (MEX), Beatriz Rivera/Tatiana Encarnación (PUR), Elki Phillip/Pauline Woodroffe (TRI), Ashley Ivy/Lisa Rutledge (USA-1), Whitney Pavlik/Jenny Krop (USA-2).