Rodriguez and Haddock going for a triple in Cayman Islands
Puerto Ricans Roberto Rodriguez (right) and Erik Haddock have dominated the Cayman Islands Beach Volleyball Tournament for the last two years
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, April 22, 2014 – The sixth edition of the double-gender Cayman Islands Beach Volleyball Tournament marks the start of the 2014 NORCECA Circuit at Seven Mile Beach of Grand Cayman on Friday.
Puerto Ricans Roberto Rodriguez and Erik Haddock will be going after their third crown in a row in the men’s segment of the competition, traditionally the first of the year since its inaugural event in 2009.
Last year, the Rodriguez/Haddock tandem won the crown with a 21-16, 21-18 victory over the USA’s combo of Todd Rogers and Ryan Doherty. The previous year, the Puerto Ricans defeated Canadians Samuel Schachter and Maverick Hatch 21-19, 21-15 to take the title.
Rodriguez also won a silver medal here in 2011 playing alongside Christopher Underwood.
Rogers, the gold medal winner of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing along with Phil Dalhausser, will take part again in the Cayman Islands this year with Theo Brunner as his partner.
The team of Rogers and Brunner is one of the two USA entries in the men’s tournament with the other consisting of Will Montgomery and Stafford Slick.
While the men’s field has seen multiple winners in the short history of the competition, in the women’s segment the Cayman Islands has had a different winning pair in each of the five previous occasions.
Veteran Heather Hughes, a three-time gold medalist in NORCECA events, will play together with Christal Engle as one of two American women’s teams. Tealle Hunkus, who won in Aruba in 2013, will team up with Kim Dicello.
Last year, the Canadian duo of Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas crushed Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik of United States 21-15, 21-13 to claim the gold medal.
Fifteen men’s teams and sixteen women’s teams have been registered to participate in the opening event of the year. Teams will be divided into four pools with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the single elimination bracket.
