Three champion pairs reach women semifinals

MARACAS BAY, Trinidad, November 30, 2013 - The teams of Heather Hughes and Lane Carico (USA-A), Marta Revuelta and Bibiana Candelas (MEX) and Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas (CAN-A), all winners on the tour so far this season have advanced to the semifinals of the 11^th and final leg of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit began on Saturday.

They were joined by (CAN-B) duo Heather Bansley and Caleigh Whitaker, the latter of whom won the tenth leg women’s gold medal in Costa Rica a week ago playing with Kacie MacTavish against Hughes and Carico to deny the latter a fourth win in 2013.

In the quarterfinals, Bansley and Whitaker defeated last weekend’s fourth placed pair, Karen Cope and Natalia Alfaro (CRC) 21-13, 21-18 to set up a semifinal meeting with Hughes and Carico who ousted fellow Americans Sarah Day and Kaitlin Nielsen 21-17, 17-21, 15-11 in a very competitive contest.

Carico is seeking her fourth gold medal of the year and the third playing with Hughes.

She won with Sarah Hughes in Puerto Rico and the triumphed with Heather Hughes in Chula Vista (USA) and St. Lucia.

The other semifinal will feature Broder and Valjas, winners of the first tournament of the season in Cayman Islands against Revuelta and Candelas, who were champions on home soil in Mazatlan.

This after Broder and Valjas stopped Samantha Mann and Dania Hamilton (LCA) 21-6, 21-14 and Revuelta and Candelas defeated Dariam Acevedo and Vanessa Velez 21-18, 21-12.

In the morning session, Hughes and Carico (USA-A) won Pool A with a 3-0 record after beating Mann and  Hamilton 21-9, 21-9 in their four-team pool decider while Broder and Valjas also ended with a 3-0 mark  in Pool B after easing past Nancy Joseph and Ayana Dyette (TTO-A) 21-10, 21-10.

Revuelta and Candelas topped Pool C also with a 100 per cent winning record of 3-0 by cruising past Jamie Farley and Laurie Bachler (ISV) 21-12, 21-12, and in Pool D, Cope and Alfaro (CRC) battled past Acevedo and Velez 21-17, 21-17 in a clash of unbeaten teams.

Saturday’s Women Results:

Pool A: USA-A d LCA (21-9, 21-9); SKN d TRI-B (21-6, 21-8). Pool B: CAN-B d TRI-A (21-10, 21-10); USA-B d JAM (21-10, 21-11). Pool C: MEX d CAY (21-12, 21-12); CAN-B d ISV (21-10, 21-5). Pool D: CRC d PUR (21-17, 21-17); BAR d VIN (21-19, 21-11). Quarterfinals: CAN-A d LCA (21-6, 21-14); CAN-B d CRC (21-13, 21-18); MEX d PUR (21-18, 21-12); USA-A d USA-B (21-17, 17-21, 15-11). Semifinals 9-12: BAR d SKN (21-18, 21-13); JAM d CAY (21-18, 21-11). Semifinals 13-16: VIN d TRI-B (21-12, 21-12); TRI-A d ISV (24-22, 21-14).