SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica, Thursday, December 5, 2024.- The sand courts of La Sabana Metropolitan Park in San José, Costa Rica, will host the ninth and final stage of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour running from Friday December 6, through Sunday, December 8.
Over three days of competition, the top men’s and women’s duos from the North, Central America, and Caribbean Confederation will battle for top honors.
The event will feature women’s teams from the United States, Canada, Guatemala, Mexico, Barbados, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. On the men’s side, teams from Saint Kitts & Nevis, El Salvador, Guatemala, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Mexico, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Canada, and the United States will compete.
A total of 31 teams are registered for the event, 16 in the men’s division and 15 in women, divided into four pools per gender.
This marks the second time in history that Costa Rica will host a NORCECA Tour stage, having previously hosted the tenth stage in 2013, also at La Sabana Metropolitan Park.
Among the standout athletes, Nicaragua’s Dany López, who won gold in the sixth stage in Puerto Cortés, Honduras, alongside Rubén Mora, will compete in Costa Rica with Dennis López.
From Canada, Luke De Greeff, who earned bronze in the eighth stage in San Salvador and the seventh in Bonaire alongside Martin Licht, will now partner with Guillaume Rivest.
For the United States, Cody Caldwell, who won gold in Varadero during the second stage of the tour, will team up with Silila Tucker. Also noteworthy is the Dominican duo of Hayerling De Jesús and Rolvin Maldonado, runners-up in the fifth stop in Punta Cana.
Mexico returns to the tour after missing several 2024 stages, fielding four teams: Inés Vargas/Gabriel Cruz and Miguel Sarabia/Jorman Osuna in the men’s category, and Atenas Gutiérrez/Susana Torres and Yamilet Vidaurrazaga/María Jimena Ramírez in the women’s category.
Atenas Gutiérrez and Susana Torres previously won silver in the third stage of the tour in Juan Dolio and secured bronze in the tour finals, also held in Juan Dolio.
The host, Costa Rica, will present three women’s teams and two men’s teams. On the women’s side are Aliza Aguilar/Kianny Araya, Valentina Molina/Sofía Vega, and Katherine Quesada/Eugenia Ramírez. On the men’s side are Stanley Grant/Julián Araya and Edwin Delgado/Juan Diego Delgado.
The event begins this Friday with pool matches starting at 9:00 a.m., featuring 16 matches per gender.
Men’s Teams:
BAR: Jonathan Xavier Alleyne y Ronald Rice; BER: Sean Tucker y Kyle Hamilton; CAN: Luke de Greeff y Guillaume Rivest; CRC1: Stanley Grant Brown y Julián Araya Alas; CRC2: Edwin Delgado y Juan Diego Delgado; ESA: Gabriel Baltazr Vargas Romero y Carlos Adonai Mejía Pèrez; DOM: Hayerling Francisco De Jesús Goris y Rolvin Maldonado Sanchez; GUA1: Luis Augusto García Betancourt y Edgar Andrés Maldonado Espina; GUA2: Santiago Penagos Hernández y Javier Alberto Lucero Perez; MEX1: Miguel Sarabia Delgado y Jorman Osuna Valdez, MEX2: Ines Antonio Vargas Lares y Gabriel Cruz Mendoza; NIC: Denis José López Ruiz y Dany Antonio López Alvarado; SKN: Julian Bristol y Jedediah Pencheon; USA: Silila Tucker y Cody Caldwell; ISV1: Tyler Penberthy y Garrett Bucklin; ISV2: Devin Van Siclen William Clemens
Women’s Teams: BAR: Destiny Layne y Serena Edwards ; CAN: Sophia Hladyniuk y Myriam Robitaille; CRC1: Aliza Aguilar Delgado y Kianny María Araya Quesada; CRC2: Laura Valentina Molina Alvarado y Sofía Vega Barrantes; CRC3: Katherine V. Quesada Ovando y Eugenia Ramirez; ESA1: Karla Jamileth Tovar Tovar y Daniela Sofía Vigil Catillejos, ESA2: Keiry Michelle Guzman Espinoza y Fátima Giselle Rendon Garcia; DOM: Crismil Paniagua Hinojosa y Yari Manuela Cleto Rosario; GUA: Natalia María Girón Boesche y Paola Marie Alvarado Franco; MEX1: Atenas Angelica Gutierrez Guzmán y Susana Torres García; MEX2: Yeray Yamilet Vidaurrazaga Blanco y Maria Jimena Ramirez Campas; NIC: Norma Brenes Zavala y Lolette Eleonor Rodríguez Saunders; USA1: Peri Brennan y Molly Phillips; USA2: Wilson Taylor y Nicole Myszkowski; ISV: T’ara Austin y Taylor Buckner.