Canadians MacNeil and Richards with fast start in Fajardo

FAJARDO, Puerto Rico, December 7, 2013 – Jake MacNeil and Andrew Richards of Canada went undefeated through the round-robin play of the NORCECA Central Zone Boys’ Beach Volleyball Qualification Tournament towards the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games at Seven Seas Beach in Fajardo on Saturday.

The Cannucks won their three matches in the opening day to qualify as the top ranked team going into Sunday’s semifinals where they will meet Mexico’s duo of Luis Ramos and Jesus Rodriguez who finished fourth with a 0-3 win-loss record, despite showing good ability throughout the day.

MacNeil/Richards opened with a 23-21, 21-18 victory over the local Puerto Rican pair of Sergio Figueroa and Eric Delgado and continued with a well fought victory in three sets 15-21, 22-20, 17-15 against Mexicans Ramos and Rodriguez.

They capped the day with a 21-18, 22-20 triumph over Louis Richards and Torey DeFalco of United States, who finished in second place with a 2-1 win-loss record.

The Americans cruised to victories in their first two matches of Saturday, 21-9, 21-17 over Ramos/Rodriguez and 21-15, 21-14 over Figueroa/Delgado.

In the last match of day one between winless teams, Puerto Rico defeated Mexico by the score of 21-19, 21-18 to claim the third position and setting up match with USA’s Richards/DeFalco.

Boys’s results: USA d MEX 2-0 (21-9, 21-17), CAN d PUR 2-0 (23-21, 21-18), CAN d MEX 2-1 (15-21, 22-20, 17-15), USA d PUR 2-0 (21-15, 21-14), CAN d USA 2-0 (21-18, 22-20), PUR d MEX 2-0 (21-19, 21-18).

Preliminary Phase Positions: 1. Canada (3-0), 2. United States (2-1), 3. Puerto Rico (1-2), 4. Mexico (0-3).