Six Women Tandems Off to a Good Start at the NORCECA Tour in El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, November 8, 2024.- The two U.S. teams, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ozee/Glagau of Canada, López/Valeska of Nicaragua and Alvarado/Aguilar of Guatemala, off to a good start at the eighth stage of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour at the Beach Sports Stadium at the Flor Blanca Sports Complex in El Salvador.

In Pool A, Jessica McGuire and Ella Gray of USA kicked off the day with a 2-0 (21-12, 21-11) victory over Kristina Lumsde and Petal Smith of Jamaica and then they went on to beat  Daniela Vigil and Karla Tovar de El Salvador 2-0 (21-16, 21-15), securing to move into the next round.

The other U.S. team, Jade Race/Devanne Sours, outplayed Canadians Dana Roskic and Anna Licht 2-0 (23-21, 21-19) who earlier earned a strong win 2-0 (21-12, 21-12) against Aliza Aguilar and Crystell Arce of Costa Rica in their first match in pool B.

Race/Sours will play their last pool-play match against Aguilar/Arce of Costa Rica.

Amy Ozee and Kaylee Glagau of Canada earned two wins in Pool C; first they beat Valentina Molina and Sofia Vega of Costa Rica  2-0 (21-12, 12-16) and then prevailed 2-0 (21-8, 21-12) over Dana Funes/Donnina Argueta of El Salvador.  

Also in Pool C, Socorro López with Valeska Hernández of Nicaragua dominated Molina/Sofía V of Costa Rica 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) and Funes/Donni of El Salvador 2-0 (21-9, 21-18).

Ozee/Glagau and López/Valeska will face off for first place in Pool C.  

In Pool D, Taylor Buckner and Melanie Valenciana of the U.S. Virgin Islands also earned two wins, after defeating Ella Resau and Yuliana Chávez of Nicaragua 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) and Keiry Guzmán/Devora Medina of El Salvador (21-9, 21-15). 

The other undefeated pair of Pool D was Paola Alvarado and Danna Aguilar of Guatemala, with victories against Guzmán/Medina of El Salvador 2-0 (21-15, 21-16), and to Resau/Yuliana of Nicaragua 2-0 (21-11, 21-16).  

First place in Pool D will be decided between Buckner/Valenciana and Alvarado/Aguilar.  

Pool-play will resume on Saturday. The top two places of each pool advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.  

Results Day 1 Women:
POOL A: McGuire/Gray (USA) d Lumsden/Smith (JAM) 2-0 (21-12, 21-11); McGuire/Gray (USA) d Vigil/Tovar (ESA) 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) 

POOL B: Roskic/Licht (CAN) d Aguilar/Arce (CRC) 2-0 (21-12, 21-12); Race/Sours (USA) d Roskic/Licht (CAN) 2-0 (23-21, 21-19) 

POOL C: Lopez/Valeska (NCA) d Molina/Sofi V (CRC) 2-0 (21-15, 21-12); Ozee/Glagau (CAN) d Molina/Sofi V (CRC) 2-0 (21-12, 21-16) Ozee/Glagau (CAN) d Funes/Donni (ESA) 2-0 (21-8, 21-12); Lopez/Valeska (NCA) d Funes/Donni (ESA) 2-0 (21-9, 21-18) 

POOL D: Buckner/Valenciana (ISV) d Resau/Yuliana (NCA) 2-0 (21-13, 21-13); Alvarado/Aguilar (GUA) d Guzman/Medina (ESA) 2-0 (21-15, 21-16); Buckner/Valenciana (ISV) d Guzman/Medina (ESA) 2-0 (21-9, 21-15); Alvarado/Aguilar (GUA) d Resau/Yuliana (NCA) 2-0 (21-11, 21-16).