SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, October 16, 2026.– Mexico’s Carlos Andrés Ayala and Inés Antonio Vargas Lares secured their spot in the men’s quarterfinals of the 2026 U23 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Continental Tour, while duos from El Salvador, Nicaragua and the United States took the lead in their respective pools after finishing unbeaten on opening day at the Flor Blanca Beach Volleyball Stadium in San Salvador.
Competing in the three-team Pool D, Carlos Andres/Lares, the most successful men’s duo on this season’s NORCECA Tour, secured an early quarterfinal berth with two commanding straight-set victories. The Mexican pair defeated Canada’s Brendan Lyons and Yahia Elsayed 2-0 (21-11, 21-16) before overpowering the Cayman Islands’ William Duty and Dylan Lynee 2-0 (21-10, 21-9).
In Pool A, Salvadoran cousins Rafael and Gabriel Vargas, known as Rafa and Gabo, thrilled the home crowd with two convincing performances. The local favorites opened with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-11) victory over Guatemala’s Fredy Luna and Robin Oliva before dominating Honduras’ Isaac Méndez and Osman García 2-0 (21-3, 21-12).
But the Salvadorans were not alone at the top of Pool A. Dominican cousins Francisco and Ramón De Jesús also went 2-0, defeating Luna and Oliva 2-0 (21-15, 24-22) in a match featuring a tightly contested second set, followed by a 2-0 (21-10, 21-9) win over Méndez and García. The two unbeaten pairs, Rafa/Gabo and De Jesús/De Jesús, will face off for the top spot in the pool.
Pool B delivered some of the day’s most dramatic rallies and closely contested finishes. Nicaragua’s Angelo Guadamuz and Deyner López emerged unbeaten after defeating Honduras’ Jairo Gálvez and Jonathan Ortega 2-0 (21-11, 21-17), then surviving a three-set thriller against El Salvador’s Adonai Mejía and Andrés Fuentes 2-1 (21-12, 20-22, 16-14).
Mejía and Fuentes had already shown their resilience earlier in the day, rallying from a set down to edge Costa Rica’s Óscar Rojas and Yulius Brown 2-1 (16-21, 22-20, 15-10). The Costa Rican duo also battled through three sets to defeat Honduras’ Gálvez and Ortega 2-1 (21-15, 20-22, 15-13), leveling their record at 1-1 and keeping the race for the two quarterfinal berths wide open.
In Pool C, Americans Malachi Brewington and Titus Lance set the pace with two straight-set wins. The U.S. pair defeated Canada’s Aengus Adams and Connor Dorsey 2-0 (21-14, 21-12) before holding off Barbados’ Aaron Taylor and Joshua Ashby 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) to finish the opening day with a perfect record.
Adams and Dorsey recovered from their opening defeat with a 2-0 (21-12, 21-15) victory over Jedediah Pencheon and Kush Tilokani, who had earlier outlasted Barbados’ Taylor and Ashby in three sets, 2-1 (21-15, 17-21, 15-9).
Pool play concludes Saturday morning, with the top two teams from each pool advancing to the quarterfinals later that day. The knockout stage will determine the semifinalists as the competition moves closer to Sunday’s medal matches.