William Montgomery spikes gold again

MISSION BEACH, Trinidad, November 18, 2012 - USA-1 pairing of William Montgomery and Antonio Ciarelli overcame Nicaragua’s duo of Gerald Umana and Henry Hernandez in two sets for the gold medal in the tenth stop of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit men’s tournament at Mission Beach, Toco on Sunday.

In the championship decider of the 16-team tournament, Montgomery who won last week in St Lucia with a Jonathan Mesko paired with Ciarelli this time to secure a 21-10, 21-11 victory.

Speaking after his team’s win, Ciarelli was quick to admit the score did not really reflect how difficult a match it was.

“The Nicaraguans are a very good team and made us work for every point but in the end we were very grateful for the victory,” he said.

Ciarelli was also high ig praise for the T&T-1 team of Fabien Whitfield and Daneil Williams along with St Lucians, Julian Biscette and Joseph Clercent.

“We played the T&T team in St Lucia two weeks ago and compared to what they did this weekend, they have improved a whole lot.

“We also played against St Lucia in Chula Vista and from then to now you can tell that they have been training a lot and if both teams keep it up I can surely see them being major threats on the tour and event in contention for Olympic qualifying places in the future, ended Ciarelli.

In the semifinals, the eventual gold medal winners were 21-11, 21-17 victorious over Toco-born Whitfield and Williams, while Umana and Hernandez prevented another all-American gold medal contest by outlasting USA-2, Weston Carico and Curt Toppel 17-21, 21-18, 18-16.

Whitfield and Williams, both 24-years-old and now in their fourth year on the circuit, rebounded in grand fashion to secure a first ever medal for T&T on the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit by upstaging fancied Carico and Toppel 27-25, 19-21, 15-13.

In the morning session, USA-2 and T&T-1 both won their quarterfinals matches to reach the semifinal stage.

Carico and Toppel got past Costa Ricans, Esteban Espinoza and Jose Alpizar, 21-19, 21-15 and Whitfield and Williams ousted Arubans, Nitchel Daniel and Eargenell De Cuba, 21-14, 21-19.

This after the Arubans, won the third and final set in the round-of-16 encounter with St Lucians Julian Biscette and Joseph Clercent, 16-14 for a 2-1 win. The match was carried over from Saturday night due to fading light, with Aruba losing the first set, 22-24 before extending the match by taking the second set, 23-21.

Sunday’s men results: ARU d LCA 2-1 (22-24, 23-21, 16-14); Quarterfinals: USA-B d CRC 2-0 (21-19, 21-15); TRI-A d ARU 2-0 (21-14, 21-19); Semifinals: NCA d USA-B 2-1 (17-21, 21-18, 18-16); USA-A d TRI-A 2-0 (21-11, 21-17); Bronze medal: TRI-A d USA-B 2-1 (27-25, 19-21, 15-13); Gold medal: USA-A d NCA 2-0 (21-10, 21-11).