USA Lindstrom and Van Gunst Champions of Varadero NORCECA Beach Tour

VARADERO, Cuba, May 14, 2023.- Katie Lindstrom/Teegan Van Gunst of the United States prevailed over Mexico’s Susana Torres and Atenas Gutiérrez to become champions of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour second stage at the courts beside Barceló Arenas Blancas Hotel.

The golden pair was fourth place in the first stage in Aguascalientes, where the local team of Atenas with Abril Flores won against the northern team of Urango and Skjodt.

«We are now very happy with our first podium of the year because we are a strong team, what happened in Aguascalientes was that Katie got sick and couldn’t finish well, but in the 2022 Tour we won two gold medals and the same number of silver medals», explained Teegan, number two on her uniform.

Katie, who works as a researcher for a coffee company, and Teegan, kids beach volleyball coach, said they will be competing in a strong leg of the AVP.

They both said they had a great time in their first trip to Cuba, especially in Varadero. «We loved it, it’s a nice place, a beautiful beach and good people, kind and helpful with us».

The bronze medal went to Geena Urango and Carly Skjodt defeating Canadians Ruby Sorra and Lea Monkhouse 2-0 (21-18, 21-19).

In semifinals Katie and Teegan won to their compatriots Urango and Skjodt 2-1 (21-18, 21-14, 15-12) in 54 minutes of actions under the sun.

On their side, Mexicans Susana Torres/Atenas Gutiérrez moved forward dominating Canadians Ruby Sorra/Lea Monkhouse 2-1 (21-12, 17-21, 17-15) in 57 minutes.

For fifth place, Puerto Ricans Allanis Navas/María González beat Cubans Yenifer Rivera and Amanda Armenteros 2-0 (21-6, 21-14) in only 29 minutes, their second victory in the tournament over the home team.

Seventh place went to Dominicans Esmeralda Ramirez and Julibeth Payano, executors of hosts Nahomi Charlot and Maykelín Drik  2-1 (21-14, 15-21, 15-9)  and nineth place to Nicaraguans Margarita López and Lolette Rodríguez , winners against Canadians Devin Corah and Adriel Goodman 2-1 (21-16, 16-21, 19-17).

Full results of this phase are at Cuba 2023 NORCECA Beach Tour.