From Digicel Sportsmax

The new season of the 2015 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit serves off today at Seven Miles Beach in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.

Seventeen women and 16 men teams will participate in the round-robin groups, before the top two advance to the main draw knockout stage.

Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago, United States and hosts Cayman Islands are hunting for top honours in women’s competition.

Canada, Cayman and the United States will be represented to by two pairs. All the other countries have one pair each.

The USA will be represented by Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik and Kendra Van Zwieten and Traci Weamer.

Trinidad & Tobago have Apphia Glasgow and La-teisha Joseph while Sashalee Wallen and Kai Wright will do the honours for Jamaica.

The men’s competition has been seeded, led by Canadians Felipe Humana-Paredes and Christian Redman.

The US duo of Mark Burik and Curt Toppel are number two seed with Puerto Ricans Erick Haddock and Roberto Rodriguez-Bertran as number three.

This year marks the seventh consecutive time that the NORCECA tour has begun in the Cayman Islands.

For more on this story go to: http://www.digicelsportsmax.com/?q=articles/2015/04/24/cayman-volleyball-norceca-beach-volleyball-circuit-serves

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NORCECA: Perfect Start in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

By Everett Delorme from Volleyball Source

Four teams, two matches each, and a perfect 8-0 record for Canada on Day One of the NORCECA Grand Cayman tournament.

On the women’s side, two teams formed at the last minute have provided instant chemistry. Canada-A, Claudia Séguin (Saint-Pascal-Baylon, On) and Alex Poletto (Toronto, On) opened with a 21-15, 21-15 win over Panama, and followed it up by dismantling Belize 21-15, 21-4. They face Trinidad & Tobago tomorrow in the final match of pool play .

Julie Gordon (Barrie, On) and Brandie Wilkerson (Toronto, On) are also playing together for the first time, and force is strong between this pair. First was a 21-19, 21-10 win over the Costa Ricans, then a 21-5, 21-10 clinic against Honduras. They close out pool play tomorrow against Jamaica.

On the men’s side, Felipe Humaña-Paredes (Toronto, On) might be new, but he and Christian Redmann (Oro Station, On) are getting the job done. First was a marathon win over USA-B Olson/Kolinske (21-18, 18-21, 19-17). The second went the limit as well, this time it was Trinidad & Tobago losing in third-set heartbreak, the newly formed pair of Canucks clinching the match 21-14, 21-23, 17-15, and will finish against the win-less Nicaraguans tomorrow.

Canada-B of Garrett May (Scarborough, On) and Daniel Dearing (Toronto, On) made much quicker work of their matches. Although USA-A of Burik/Toppel pushed them 23-21, 21-19, they charged through Guatemala 21-12, 21-10 on their way to take on the winless pair from Barbados in their final match of pool play tomorrow.

IMAGE: Christian Redmann passes the ball to Felipe Humaña-Paredes in pool play during the NORCECA Grand Cayman tournament Photo: NORCECA

For more on this story go to: http://volleyballsource.net/news/2015/4/24/norceca-perfect-start-in-grand-cayman

T&T girls win twice in NORCECA

By Shammi Kowlessar From Trinidad Express

APPHIA GLASGOW and La Teisha Joseph won both matches as Trinidad and Tobago pairs performed very creditably on the opening day of this year’s NORCECA (North, Central America and the Caribbean) Beach Volleyball Tour yesterday in Cayman Islands.

The inexperienced girls defeated the pair from Belize 21-18, 17-21, 15-6 and the Cayman Islands tandem 21-7, 21-17 to put themselves in position to reach the quarterfinals of the three-day tournament.

The top two teams from the four round-robin groups will advance to the last eight and Glasgow and Joseph will face the pair from Panama and group favourites Claudia Seguin and Alexandria Poletto of Canada in their other Group B matches.

After sauffering a heart-breaking defeat yesterday, T&T’s Fabian Whitfield and Daneil Williams will need to defeat Americans Derek Olson and William Kolinske of the United States to finish second in Group A and move into the quarters.

The “Toco Boys”, who won all ten tournaments at home this season, defeated a pair of Nicaraguans 21-11, 27-25 in their openinng match, but were later nosed out 21-14, 21-23, 17-15 by Canadians Filipe Humana-Paredes and Christian Redman. There are 14 legs in this year’s circuit, which is scheduled to conclude in Trinidad in the middle of November.

For more on this story go to: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sports/-TT-girls-win-twice-in-NORCECA-301285721.html