Canadians and Americans to clash for Chetumal Gold
CHETUMAL, Mexico, October 27, 2018 – World ranking leaders
Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada and qualifiers
Caitlin Ledoux and Geena Urango of the United States will play
for the gold medal of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
three-star Chetumal Open after both teams secured their spots in
the final on Saturday night.
The bronze medal match at the Mexican coastal city will also
feature a duel between Canadians and Americans with Megan
McNamara/Nicole McNamara and Kerri Walsh Jennings/Brooke Sweat
fighting for the third and final spot at the podium.
Wilkerson and Bansley, who currently sit atop of the world
rankings secured their spot in the gold medal match with a pair
of victories on Saturday. In the quarterfinals, the Canadians
defeated the recently-crowned Youth Olympics champions Mariia
Bocharova and Maria Voronina of Russia in straight sets (21-17,
21-16).
In the semifinal, they downed the veterans Walsh Jennings and
Sweat also in two sets (21-18, 21-17).
The Canadians, who are about to end their season in Chetumal,
are set to play in their fourth-straight final, following gold
medal appearances at the NORCECA Championships, the p1440
Invitational and the World Tour Las Vegas Open last week – they
won the last two tournaments.
“It’s tough, every week is really challenging,” Bansley
explained. “We really had to dig deep. This is our last
tournament in 2018 and we want to finish it on a high note, so
we just need to stay focused for one more match.”
“We’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing, we’ll focus on our
side. Our blocking-defense has scored us a lot of points, so
we’ll rely on that.”
Ledoux and Urango, on the other hand, were entered to play in
the qualification tournament in Chetumal, but ultimately
advanced directly to the main draw. They are playing together in
the World Tour for the first time after pairing in two events of
the American AVP and finishing second and third.
They debuted in the tournament with a setback to Martha Revuelta
and Zaira Orellana on pool play, but got revenge from the
Mexicans with a 21-18, 21-13 victory over the home team in the
quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they came from behind to
prevail over the McNamara twins in three sets (15-21, 21-15,
15-13).
“It’s awesome,” Ledoux commented. “For our first tournament
together in the World Tour, we are having a great experience and
to come this far, it’s impressive. We played some very good
teams and needed to make some adjustments on the way. It has
been a great tournament and I’m really proud of us so far.”
“Against Canada, we keep focusing on our side,” Urango added.
“We have our tough serve and a good pass-set and these are the
thing we can control.
That’s what set us better.” |