Canadian pair May/Dunn captures first NORCECA Gold at La Paz

Canadian pair May/Dunn captures first NORCECA Gold at La Paz

LA PAZ, Mexico, June 9, 2019.- Canadian pair Devon May and Darby Dunn beat Mexican Diana Valdez and María José Quintero 2-1 (21-13, 9-21, 15-10) to capture their first ever NORCECA Gold Medal winning the fifth stage of the event at La Paz, Baja California Sur in Mexico.

It was a roller-coaster win for Devon May and Darby Dunn that started the actions with a solid performance and a comfortable 10-5 lead in set one, with consistency and scoring all over the court.

Mexico’s reaction in the second was tough, limiting their errors and playing a totally different match, while May and Dunn seemed distracted as Diana and Maria Jose crushed them by a huge 21-9 margin.

The Canadians had more precision in the third, they were back on track reaching a comfortable 10-7 lead and remaining on top to the finishing 15-10.

Darby Dunn said that they were very focused in the beginning “we were focused in the contact in hand and played a very clean first set, communicating very well. In the second set we tried to speed things up too much and got a little ahead of ourselves”.

About finally winning Darby added “we just needed to take our time and breathing, because volleyball is a very emotional game”.

Devon May spoke about the difference from the first set to the rest of the match “in the first we had a lot of energy but we started to feel the fatigue little bit and was really hot; there was a lot to think about and they were playing really good so we had to up our game and we did our best today, it was such a fun match; we expect to go to as much events as possible”.

In the bronze medal match, Mexicans Stephanie Burnside and Paulette Cruz beat Devon Newberry and Peri Brennan of United States 2-0 (21-18, 23-21). As a team, this is their frist NORCECA medal; for Stephanie Burnside it’s also her first medal, while for Paulette it’s her third, she already has one silver medal and another bronze with former partner Vanessa Virgen.

Final Positions: 1. Devon May/Darby Dunn (Canada-A); 2. Diana Valdez Lizarraga/María José Quintero (Mexico-A); 3. Stephanie Burnside/Paulette Cruz (Mexico-B); 4. Devon Newberry/Peri Brennan (United States); 5. Claudia Rios/Gloria Santoyo (Mexico-C); 6. Iris Fletcher/Abbey Thorup (Canada-B); 7. Socorro Lopez/Lolette Rodriguez (Nicaragua); 8. Melanie Valenciana/Cristina Almeida-Anz (U.S. Virgin Islands); 9. Kathya Vasquez/Ma. Fernanda Vargas (El Salvador); 10. Cristin Alexander /Chante Smith-Johnson (Cayman Islands).

Women’s Results Sunday:

Gold Medal: CAN-A d MEX-A 2-1 (21-13, 9-21, 15-10); Bronze Medal: MEX-B d USA 2-0 (21-18, 23-21); Semifinals: MEX-A d MEX-B 2-0 (21-13, 21-15); CAN-A d USA 2-0 (21-11, 21-15); 5-6: MEX-C d CAN-B 2-0 (21-18, 21-15); 7-8: NCA d ISV 2-0 (21-16, 21-15); 9-10: ESA d CAY 2-0 (21-9, 21-9); Placing matches: CAN-B d NCA 2-0 (21-16, 21-14); MEX-C d ISV 2-0 (21-14, 21-12).