Jade Race and Devanne Sours of USA Take Gold Medal in El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, November 10, 2024.- Jade Race and Devanne Sours of the United States won the gold medal at the eighth stop of the 2024 NORCECA Tour after Canada's Dana Roskic and Anna Licht were forced to withdraw due to injury during the final match at the Flor Blanca Beach Sports Stadium in El Salvador.

This is Devanne Sours' second consecutive gold medal, having won gold in Bonaire with Carly Kan. Jade Race claimed her third consecutive medal on the 2024 NORCECA Tour, with previous bronze medals in Puerto Cortés and Bonaire.

In pool-play, Race and Sours defeated Roskic and Licht.

With heavy hearts, both Jade and Devanne spoke about winning the gold medal.

Jade said, “Unfortunately it’s not so exciting winning the gold medal like that”. She spoke about the game adding  “We had a very tough match against this team in pool-play and we were able to beat them; today they brought another look at the gold medal, winning the first set. I think we could have gone to three and it would have been anyone’s game”.

Devanne was emotional speaking about winning her second NORCECA gold medal “the tournament in general was really cool, I am not very happy winning this way because we’ve become close friends with them and I feel very upset, they are great players, and I can’t wait to stand with them on the podium together”.

Amy Ozee and Kaylee Glagau of Canada took the bronze medal with a quick 2-0 (21-9, 21-6) victory over Nicaragua's Socorro López and Valeska Hernández. This was their third medal this year, having won gold in Puerto Cortés and silver in the Dominican Republic.

Jade Race and Devanne Sours won their semifinal match 2-0 (21-14, 21-14) over Nicaragua’s Socorro López and Valeska Hernández. In the all-Canada semifinal, Dana Roskic and Anna Licht defeated Amy Ozee and Kaylee Glagau 2-0 (22-20, 21-17).

McGuire/Gray from the United States finished in fifth place with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-12) win over Alvarado/Aguilar from Guatemala. Buckner/Valenciana of the U.S. Virgin Islands took seventh place after Vigil/Tovar (ESA) forfeited.

Molina/Sofi V from Costa Rica finished in tenth place after defeating El Salvador's Guzman/Medina 2-0 (21-14, 21-14). Aguilar/Arce from Costa Rica beat Smith/Lumsden from Jamaica 2-0 (21-15, 21-18) for eleventh and twelfth positions. Nicaragua’s Resau/Yuliana secured the thirteenth spot with a win over Funes/Donni from El Salvador Salvador 2-1(21-11, 15-21, 18-16).

Final Standings: 1. Race/Sours (USA); 2. Roskic/Licht (CAN); 3. Ozee/Glagau (CAN); 4. Lopez/Valeska (NCA); 5. McGuire/Gray (USA); 6. Alvarado/Aguilar (GUA); 7. Buckner/Valenciana (ISV); 8. Vigil/Tovar (ESA); 9. Molina/Sofi V (CAN); 10. Guzman/Medina (ESA); 11. Aguilar/Arce (CRC); 12. Smith/Lumsden (JAM); 13. Resau/Yuliana (NCA); 14. Funes/Donni (ESA).

Results Day 3 Men:

CLASSIFICATION MATCHES: POS 5/8: McGuire/Gray (USA) d Buckner/Valenciana (ISV) 2-1 (9-21, 21-17, 15-9); Alvarado/Aguilar (GUA) d Vigil/Tovar (ESA) 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) 

SEMIFINALS: Roskic/Licht (CAN) d Ozee/Glagau (CAN) 2-0 (22-20, 21-17) ; Race/Sours (USA) d López/Valeska (NCA) 2-0 (21-14, 21-14) 

POSITION MATCHES: POS 5/6 McGuire/Gray (USA) d Alvarado/Aguilar (GUA) 2-0 (21-19, 21-12); POS 7/8 Buckner/Valenciana (ISV) d Vigil/Tovar (ESA) (forfeit ESA); POS 9/10 Molina/Sofi V (CRC) d Guzman/Medina (ESA) 2-0 (21-14, 21-14); POS 11/12 Aguilar/Arce (CRC) d Smith/Lumsden (JAM) 2-0 (21-15, 21-18); POS 13/14 Resau/Yuliana (NCA) d Funes/Donni (ESA) 2-1(21-11, 15-21, 18-16)

BRONZE MEDAL: Ozee/Glagau (CAN) d Lopez/Valeska (NCA) 2-0 (21-9, 21-6)

GOLD MEDAL: Race/Sours (USA) d Roskic/Licht (CAN) 2-1 (12-21, 21-6, 15-0) injury team Canada