Mazatlan BVB kicks off with 31 matches on Friday

MAZATLAN, Mexico, September 12, 2013 – The Mazatlan beach Volleyball Tournament, the sixth leg of the double gender 2013 NORCECA Circuit, kicks off on Friday in this beautiful seaside city of the Mexican Pacific with three matches starting at 9:00 am local time.

In the women’s event, the Costa Rica-A team of Karen Cope and Natalia Alfaro meets Traci Weamer and Allison Fleming of United States-B while Heather Hughes and Lane Carico of United States-A take on Katherine Quesada and Eugenia Ramírez of Costa Rica-B.

In the men’s division the actions open with the match between Grant O’Gorman and Sam Pedlow of Canada-A and Victor Rivera and Erik Haddock of Puerto Rico-B.

A total of 31 matches (15 women’s and 16 men’s) are scheduled to be played under temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius.

The 16 men’s teams have been divided into four pools of four teams and the top two from each pool at the end of the preliminary round will advance to the single elimination bracket.

Meanwhile, the 15 women’s teams have been divided into one pool of five teams and two pools of four teams. The top two teams and the two best third placed teams will move on to the single elimination bracket.

Arnaldo Sanchez, director of the competition, informed about the pool composition following the draw of the unseeded teams during the general technical meeting held at Hotel Emporio, the player’s hotel on Thursday evening.

The meeting was also attended by Juan Pablo Urias, General Director of the Sinaloa Sports Institute, Mayra Huerta, NORCECA representative, Laura Amaral, president of Larx Promotions, Hilda Gaxiola, representative of Mexican Volleyball Federation, Miguel Angel Ramírez, Roosevelt Comarazamy, and Esteban Hernandez, referee, press and statistics delegates, respectively.

The rest of the women’s morning matches are the following:

CAN-A (Melissa Humana/Taylor Pishcke) v MEX-C (Vanessa Virgen/Stephanie Burnside); HON (Gina Flores/Martha Euceda) v PUR (Dariam Acevedo/Vanessa Vélez); GUA (Maria Orellana/Lourdes Ramírez) v MEX-B (Haydeé López/Pamela Aguirre); MEX-A (Martha Revuelta/Bibi Candelas) and TRI (Paulina Woodroffe/Elki Phillip) v USA-B (Traci Weamer/Allison Fleming).

The other men’s morning matches are the following:

PUR-A (Roberto Rodríguez/Héctor Soto) v ISV (Marc Lomeli-Anthony Pippen); GUA (Julio Recinos/Luis García) v ESA (David Vargas/Carlos Talavera); LCA (Coen Caesar-Tevin St Jean)v CRC (Esteban Escobar/Jonathan Guevara), USA-A (Will Montgomery/James Drost) v MEX-B (Juan Revuelta/Ricardo Galindo) and TRI (Fabien Whitfield/Colin Bernard) v MEX-C (Ulises Ontiveros-Salvador Frías).

Women’s Groups

Pool A

CAN-A (Melissa Humana/Taylor Pishcke), CRC-A (Karen Cope/Natalia Alfaro), TRI (Paulina Woodroffe/Elki Phillip), USA-B (Traci Weamer/Allison Fleming), MEX-C (VanessaVirgen/Stephanie Burnside).

Pool B

USA-A (Heather Hughes/Lane Carico), HON (Gina Flores/Martha Euceda), PUR (Dariam Acevedo/Vanessa Vélez), CRC-B (Katherine Quesada/Eugenia Ramírez).

Pool C

MEX-A (Martha Revuelta/Bibi Candelas), GUA (Maria J. Orellana/Lourdes Ramírez), MEX-B (Haydee López/Pamela Aguirre), CAN-B (Kacie MacTavish/Caleigh Whitaker).

Men’s Groups

Pool A

MEX-A (Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen), ESA (David Vargas/Carlos Talavera), GUA (Julio Recinos/Luis García), CAN-B (Josh Binstock/Samuel Schachter).

Pool B

PUR-A (Roberto Rodriguez/Hector Soto), NCA (Gerald Umaña/Dany López), ISV (Marc Lomeli/Anthony Pippen), USA-B (Kevin McColloch/Derek Olson).

Pool C

CAN-A (Grant O’Gorman/Sam Pedlow), LCA (Coen Caesar-Tevin St Jean), CRC (Esteban Escobar/Jonathan Guevara), PUR-B (Victor Rivera/Erik Haddock).

Pool D

USA-A (Will Montgomery/James Drost), TRI (Fabien Whitfield/Colin Bernard), MEX-C (Ulises Ontiveros-Salvador Frías), MEX-B (Juan Revuelta/Ricardo Galindo).