Canadian girls to semis, Puerto Rican boys ousted in Nanjing

NANJING, China, August 25, 2014 – In a do-or-die contest between NORCECA representatives in the female beach volleyball tournament of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, Canada moved on by defeating the United States, 2-1 (14-21, 21-18, 15-8).

“This feels amazing,” said Canada’s Megan McNamara. “We did our best to overcome our bad start.”

The Canadian twins, bronze medalists at the FIVB U19 World Championships, kept their composure after losing the first set.

“We were pretty nervous about this match,” said Canada’s Nicole McNamara. “Once we took a timeout, we calmed down and felt better.”

The United States finish the tournament tied for fifth.

“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Team USA’s Zana Muno. “I hate losing and this stings now, but one day we will look back at being fifth at the Youth Olympics and it will be pretty cool.”

In other action on Monday morning, Tigrito Gomez and Peter Hernandez of Venezuela won the second men’s quarter-final match on Court No. 2.

Gomez and Hernandez, who placed third earlier this month at the FIVB U19 worlds in Portugal, ousted Sergio Figueroa and Daniel Rivera of Puerto Rico 2-1 (21-11, 14-21 and 15-11) in 43-minutes.