USA, Mexico, Canada and El Salvador Women's Duos Go Unbeaten on Opening Day of U23 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, October 16, 2026.– The United States, Mexico, Canada and host El Salvador each finished unbeaten with two victories on the opening day of the 2026 U23 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Continental Tour at the Flor Blanca Beach Volleyball Stadium in San Salvador.

Twin sisters Avery and Addison Junk of the United States, Giselle and Vanessa Chay of Mexico, Canada's Julia McDougall and Natalia Casas, and El Salvador's María Jimena Castañeda and Daniela Vigil led their respective pools with perfect 2-0 records.

The American twins, silver medalists at the 2025 FIVB U18 Beach Volleyball World Championships, made an impressive start in Pool A, defeating El Salvador's Gabriela Flores and Adriana Vargas 2-0 (21-8, 21-8) before cruising past Barbados' Destiny Layne and Janica Grant 2-0 (21-5, 21-11).

Layne and Grant opened their campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 (21-14, 13-21, 20-18) victory over Nicaragua's Nahima Silva and Abdi Narváez. The Nicaraguan duo bounced back in another three-set battle, edging Flores and Vargas 2-1 (20-22, 21-17, 15-13) to finish the day with a 1-1 record.

In Pool B, Mexico's twin sisters Giselle and Vanessa Chay were equally dominant, sweeping Costa Rica's Laura Molina and Ashly Chavarría 2-0 (21-13, 21-10) before defeating the Dominican duo Zoe Paniagua and Yerelin Reyes 2-0 (21-8, 21-10).

Paniagua and Reyes also collected a victory, defeating Honduras' Miley Rodríguez and Valeria Acosta 2-0 (21-6, 21-12). Meanwhile, Molina and Chavarría recovered from their opening loss with a convincing 2-0 (21-11, 21-8) win over the Honduran pair.

Canada's Julia McDougall and Natalia Casas delivered two commanding performances in Pool C, first defeating Anguilla's Laveshka Richardson and Deandra Fleming 2-0 (21-4, 21-10), followed by a 2-0 (21-9, 21-9) victory over sisters Vernecia and Verneeci Caines of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Caines sisters had earlier secured a 2-0 (21-9, 21-16) victory over the Cayman Islands' Julissa Kelly and Elise Swaby, keeping themselves in contention for a quarterfinal berth. Meanwhile, Kelly and Swaby battled through three sets to defeat Anguilla's Richardson/Fleming 2-1 (21-15, 20-22, 15-10), evening their record at 1-1.

Host El Salvador also had reason to celebrate as María Jimena Castañeda and Daniela Vigil delighted the home crowd with two straight-set victories in Pool D. The Salvadoran pair defeated St. Kitts and Nevis' Shaylee Pinney and Jontelle Hensley Philip 2-0 (21-13, 21-6) before overcoming Bermuda's Megan Hands and Natalie Gazzard 2-0 (21-9, 21-10).

Guatemala's Daphne Mendoza and Marisabel González also made their mark in Pool D, defeating Bermuda's Hands and Gazzard 2-0 (21-17, 21-11). However, the Guatemalan pair subsequently forfeited their match against St. Kitts and Nevis, allowing Shaylee Pinney and Jontelle Hensley Philip to finish the day in second place in the pool standings.

Pool play resumes Saturday morning, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the quarterfinals later that afternoon to compete for spots in Sunday's semifinals. Classification matches will also be played on Saturday.