Paraguay`s beach volleyball pair, Denisse Alvarez and Fiorella Nunez, captivated their home crowd at the Junior Pan American Games in Asuncion, securing a bronze medal. This achievement was significantly bolstered by financial assistance from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program. Notably, other teams supported by this initiative also found success, with Cuba earning men’s volleyball bronze and the Dominican Republic securing women’s volleyball bronze earlier in the Games.
Empowerment Program: A Foundation for Success
The Paraguayan national beach volleyball program has received substantial backing from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, totaling USD 336,000 for coach support. This included expert guidance from Brazilian coach Ricardo Cesar Souza Da Silva. Further investments comprised USD 12,000 for national team coach development and USD 11,000 for essential beach volleyball equipment.
Alvarez & Nunez`s Path to Bronze
In their journey to the bronze, Alvarez and Nunez initially finished as Pool A runners-up to eventual champions Emma Donley and Portia Sherman. They navigated the elimination rounds to reach the semifinals, where they faced a 2-0 defeat against Venezuela’s Sara Lopez and Darlin Veronica Rodriguez. Demonstrating resilience, they triumphed 2-1 (21-14, 19-21, 15-6) over Canada’s Jaeya Brach and Sophia Hladyniuk in the bronze medal match. Meanwhile, Donley and Sherman advanced to claim the gold, beating Sara and Rodriguez 2-0 in the final, maintaining an undefeated record throughout their six matches.
Men`s Beach Volleyball Highlights
The men`s beach volleyball gold medal went to the American duo, Gage Basey and Thomas Hurst. They remained dominant, not dropping a single set until the semifinals, where they secured two tie-breaker victories: 2-1 (22-24, 21-16, 15-11) against Venezuela`s Enyenser Delgado and Juliangel Zaid in the semis, and another 2-1 (21-11, 16-21, 15-7) against Brazil`s Isac Farias and Jose Jonathan Heleno de Menezes in the final. Brazil`s Isac and Jonathan had also reached the final unbeaten, winning a tough semifinal 2-0 against Argentina`s Marcos Ezequiel Gonzalez and Fausto Inostroza. Venezuela`s Delgado and Zaid earned the bronze, overcoming Gonzalez and Inostroza 2-1 after being a set down. Overall, 16 women`s and 16 men`s beach volleyball pairs from 19 NORCECA and CSV countries participated in the tournament.
Cuba`s Men`s Volleyball Bronze
The Cuban Volleyball Federation also benefited from USD 35,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment support for their men’s national teams, including the expertise of statistician Rusber Campos. In the men`s indoor volleyball competition, Cuba finished third in Pool B, then swept Colombia 3-0 in the quarterfinals. They narrowly lost to Brazil in a five-set semifinal (3-2) but bounced back to claim bronze with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-23) victory over Mexico. The gold medal match saw Brazil edge out Argentina in a thrilling five-set contest (3-2: 22-25, 25-25, 22-25, 27-25, 15-3), with Brazil recovering from being two sets down. Dominican Republic, Colombia, Guatemala, and host nation Paraguay finished from fifth to eighth, respectively.
Tournament MVPs and Dream Team
Samuel Carazzai, Brazil`s 21-year-old opposite and captain, was honored as the tournament`s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Best Server. The Dream Team included setter Ezequiel Vazquez (Argentina), opposite Jhon Mosquera (Colombia), outside hitters Yusniel Gonzalez (Cuba) and Maicon Dos Santos (Brazil), middle blockers Milton Martinez (Paraguay) and Moises Ortiz (Dominican Republic), and libero Mariano Gomez (Paraguay), who also won Best Digger. Federico Trucco (Argentina) received the Best Receiver award, and Jhon Mosquera was recognized as the Best Scorer.
