Shields and Frohling of the United States

Crowned Champions in San Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, May 31, 2026.- Madison Shields and Hannah Frohling of the United States won the gold medal at the fifth stop of the 2026 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour, held at the Flor Blanca Sports Complex in San Salvador.

In their first appearance on the NORCECA Tour, Shields/Frohling captured the title, although they had to work hard to defeat Canadians Darby Dunn and Alison McKay 21-19, 25-23. Dunn and McKay were unable to repeat the gold medal performance they achieved a week earlier in Tamaulipas.

Dunn and McKay arrived in San Salvador enjoying an outstanding season, having earned silver medals in Costa Rica and at Güibia (Dominican Republic), a bronze medal in Nicaragua, and gold in Tamaulipas.

In the semifinals, Shields and Frohling defeated Mexico’s Susana Torres and Abril Flores 21-18, 21-18. Meanwhile, Dunn and McKay advanced to the final after overcoming Dominicans Crismil Paniagua and Julibeth Payano 24-22, 16-21, 15-9.

The bronze medal match between Mexico’s Susana Torres and Abril Flores and the Dominican Republic’s Crismil Paniagua and Julibeth Payano was one of the most exciting contests of the tournament. The Dominicans controlled much of the match, but the Mexicans rallied in the second and third sets to claim the medal. The set scores were 16-21, 23-21, and 15-13.

Torres and Flores repeated their performance from a week earlier in Tamaulipas, where they also defeated the Dominican pair for the bronze medal. The two teams had previously met in the bronze medal match at Güibia in Santo Domingo. In addition, the Mexican duo won gold in Nicaragua. Torres and Flores have reached the podium at every stop of the season.

In classification matches for places five through eight, Canada’s Claire Crossfield and Anna Prokofieva defeated Guatemala’s Paola Alvarado and Naomi Monney 21-16, 22-20. Costa Rica’s Marcela Araya and Eugenia Ramírez also earned a victory over Nicaragua’s Socorro López and Lolette Rodríguez by scores of 21-9, 21-15.

Later, in the fifth-place match, Araya and Ramírez defeated Crossfield and Prokofieva 21-13, 21-11. The match for seventh place went to three thrilling sets, with Alvarado and Monney prevailing 21-17, 17-21, 15-7 over López and Rodríguez.

Meanwhile, Dominicans Manuela Cleto and Bethania Almanzar defeated El Salvador’s Karla Tovar and Daniela Vigil 21-12, 21-12 to finish in ninth place. El Salvador’s Fátima Rendón and Dévora Medina concluded the tournament in eleventh place after defeating Sophia Peifer-Del Valle and Melanie Valenciana of the U.S. Virgin Islands 21-13, 21-17.

The match for thirteenth place ended with a victory by Panama’s Ingrid Lezcano and Krisleen González over Mexico’s Anna Sofía González Cepek and María Jimena Ramírez by scores of 16-21, 21-15, 15-13.

FINAL STANDINGS:

1. Shields/Frohling USA

2. Dunn/McKay CAN

3. Torres/Flores MEX

4. Paniagua/Payano DOM

5. Araya/Ramírez CRC

6. Crossfield/Prokofieva CAN

7. Alvarado/Monney GUA

8. López/Lolette NCA

9. Cleto/Almanzar DOM

10. Tovar/Vigil ESA

11. Rendon/Medina ESA

12. Peifer/Valenciana ISV

13. Wilson/González PAN

14. Cepek/Ramírez MEX

15. Rodríguez/Murillo HON