The Cubans Noslen Díaz and Jorge Luis Alayo convincingly dominated the final phase of the 2023 Norceca Beach Volleyball Circuit, in the Dominican Republic, which surpassed last year’s second place.
The runners-up in the XIX Pan American Games in Santiago 2023 got rid of the “thorn” stuck in 2022 by the Canadians Samuel Schachter and Daniel Dearing, surrendering them in frenetic sets of 24-22 y 22-20 in 43 minutes of battle.
The Antillean duo erased a four-point difference (11-16) in the first set, thanks to Noslen’s service and Jorge Luis’s blocks. Then they tied at points 20 and 22 to not let the victory slip away.
In the next set, under a fine drizzle, the tandem of Artemisa and Villa Clara had a 20-18 advantage when Dearing imposed his attack and blocking and tied the actions. However, our team responded with effective services and took advantage of an error by the Canadians.
«It’s very good that we reached the final again against them. Now we are 1-1. We started at the bottom, but the difference was made by our power on the serve and we were able to take charge of the match,” Díaz told the event website.
Alayo thanked Noslen and the technical group that supported them. «This was a great game to savor revenge for last year. There was a lot of emotion, we fought for all the points and we put on a good show,” he noted.
The fans enjoyed these young volleyball players, who won undefeated the two tournaments held on Juan Dolio beach. Before, let us remember, they reigned in the under-23 competition.
On this Sunday, the bronze medalists at the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador 2023 had defeated the Nicaraguans Rubén Mora and Jefferson Cascante, runners-up for the Salvadoran, in the semifinals (21-9 and 21-14).
Their compatriots Amanda Armenteros and Maykelín Drik finished sixth, losing in a close duel (15-21, 21-12, 16-14) of almost 50 minutes against the Mexicans Atenas Gutiérrez and Abril Flores Gutiérrez, the same ones who beat Amanda and Jennifer Rivera for the bronze metal in Santiago 2023.
Amanda and Maykelín debuted as a couple in the under-23 competition held in recent days in these Dominican sands. They did it with the gold medal.
The Americans Megan Kraft and Terese Cannon took the title in the final phase of Norceca, by dominating the Canadians Sarah Pavan and Molly McBain (21-16, 14-21, 15-11). It took them 53 minutes to celebrate their success in their debut on this Circuit.
María González and Allanis Navas won the bronze medal in a duel against Valentina López and Kianny Quesada, from Costa Rica, by 2-0 sets (21-6, 21-10). The Puerto Ricans, queens in San Salvador 2023, became runners-up of the grand final of the 2022 circuit and this season they also won two gold medals and one silver.
This conclusive stop provided double points for the ranking of the Olympic qualifying process.