PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic, December 11, 2022 – Canada won two medals at the 2022 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour Finals in Punta Cana.
Sam Schachter (Richmond Hill, ON) and Daniel Dearing (Toronto, ON) defeated Noslen Díaz and Luis Alayo of Cuba 2-1 (16-21, 21-19, 15-12) in the gold-medal match.
“Cuba played very well especially in the first set of the final, but the guys did a great job of weathering the storm and then pushing back when they had their opportunities,” explained Canada’s coach, Adam Schulz. “This was a great character win for the team and sets them up very well for the beginning of the Olympic qualification period starting in 2023.”
Schachter, a 2016 Olympian, said in his post-match interview: “It was very difficult and exciting… I’m blessed to have such a talented partner that did so well and was steady the entire time. It was windy out here and the conditions were difficult to play in; the level was very high.”
Earlier on Sunday, the Canadian pair beat U.S. team Chaim Schalk and Theo Brunner in the semifinals 2-0 (21-19, 21-17). Schalk had previously played for Canada, including at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Schalk and Brunner won the bronze medal over Mexico’s Virgen and Sarabia 2-0 (21-15, 21-18).
Also today, Amanda Harnett (Burlington, ON) and Marie-Alex Bélanger (Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, QC) won the bronze medal with a win over Atenas Gutiérrez and Abril Flores of Mexico in a tie break 2-1 (18-21, 21-10, 17-15). Harnett and Bélanger had already won three bronze and a silver on the NORCECA tour in 2022.
Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles of the U.S. won the women’s gold with a victory over Navas and Gonzalez of Puerto Rico.
This tournament marked the beginning of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification System, which consists of a series of three NORCECA Tour Finals (2022, 2023 and 2024).
After completing the three finals, eight National Federations per gender will qualify for the 2024 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Olympic Qualification Finals to be held in June 2024, where the winning National Federation in each gender will qualify directly for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Results & photos: www.norceca.net
Volleyball Canada media contact:
Jackie Skender jskender@volleyball.ca
(613) 794-7676