Seven Men’s Teams Go Undefeated on Opening Day of NORCECA U23 at Seven Mile Beach

SEVEN MILE BEACH, Cayman Islands, June 20, 2025. – Seven men’s duos were off to an undefeated start on the opening day of the 2025 NORCECA U23 Beach Volleyball Tour at the stunning Seven Mile Beach. Both Canadian pairs, the U.S. team, St. Kitts and Nevis  and all three Central American duos, each delivered dominant performances, winning their two matches in straight sets.

Canada’s two duos Brandon Burnside/Reed Venning and Charles Ellinas/Colin Lash delivered strong performances in Pool A and Pool D respectively.

Brandon Burnside and Reed Venning prevailed over their two opponents, first overpowering host team Cayman Islands’ Stephen Watson and Dylan Lynee 2-0 (21-4, 21-12) and then defeating Trinidad & Tobago’s Jerome Morrison and Jahreef Miguel with an identical 2-0 (21-11, 21-11) win.

Charles Ellinas and Colin Lash opened with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-5) win against William Duty and Dimitri Cardenas from the Cayman Islands, and followed that up with a 2-0 (21-9, 21-10) sweep over Jamaica’s Love-Let Blake and Ithran Softley.

CAN #1 Burnside with the poke set

In Pool C, Ayden Keeter and Carson Barnes from USA, opened with a convincing 2-0 (21-10, 21-7) win over Anderson and Aden Rojas of the U.S. Virgin Islands, then controlled the game in a 2-0 (21-11, 21-10) victory over Nkoya Williams-Bailey and Aaron Taylor from Barbados.

Also in Pool C, Julian Bristol and Clerique Ward of St. Kitts and Nevis defeated Nkoya/Taylor 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) in a tight contest, and later secured a 2-0 (21-11, 21-15) win over Brown/Wathey .

The three Central American teams, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and El Salvador, also remained perfect.

Daniel Delgado and Jose Guevara from Guatemala, in Pool B, defeated Aruba’s Jeandre Kock and Thelion Coutinho 2-0 (21-12, 21-18), and Cayman Islands’ Liam Chisholm and Declan Van Dam 2-0 (21-13, 21-12).

Costa Rica’s Julian Araya and Jhostin Varela were equally dominant in the same pool, sweeping D. Van Dam/Chisholm (2-0, 21-10, 21-9) and Coutinho /Kock (2-0, 21-9, 21-8) without trouble.

Christopher and Yoel Guardado from El Salvador, beat Jamaica’s Blake/Softley 2-0 (21-6, 21-11) and Cayman Islands’ William Duty/Dimitri Cardenas 2-0 (21-9, 21-11) without complications in Pool D

Pool-play clashes will conclude on Saturday, followed by the quarterfinal matchups and classification matches for positions.

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