Dec. 11, 2023: The beach team of Arran Chambers (Edmonton, AB) and Liam Kopp (St. Catharines, ON) beat USA’s Jordan Hoppe and James Shaw 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 15-13) in the men’s final at the fifth stop of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour in San Salvador, El Salvador on Sunday.
This is the Canadian pair’s first NORCECA gold – they won the bronze medal at the beginning of the 2023 season in Aguascalientes (Mexico) and another bronze in Cayman Islands last year.
“I can’t even describe the feeling, it’s insane” said Kopp, in the post-match interview. “We’ve working so hard this year and it feels good to finish the season off on a high note.”
To advance to the gold medal match, the Canadian duo defeated Miguel Sarabia and Juan Virgen of Mexico in semifinals 2-0 (21-15, 21-15).
In the other semifinal, Hoppe and Shaw defeated fellow Americans Charles Siragusa/Zephyr Dew 2-0 (21-19, 21-15). The men’s bronze medal went to Sarabia/Virgen (MEX) after beating Siragusa/Dew from the United States 2-0 (21-12, 21-19).
This was not Canada’s only medal of the tournament: Lea Monkhouse (Mississauga, ON) and Marie-Alex Bélanger (Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, QC) celebrated their first NORCECA medal together as a team, winning the bronze in a thrilling match against Gutiérrez/Flores of Mexico. The Mexican team narrowly missed a set point (19-20) to force a third set, leading to a final score of 2-0 (21-18, 24-22) for Canada.
There were four Canadian teams in this tournament. Jake MacNeil/Alexander Russell earned a fifth spot on the men’s side, and Devin Corah and Adriel Goodman were seventh in the women’s tournament.
Volleyball Canada Media Contact:
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
Mobile: 613-794-7676
Photo: Norceca
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