Ontiveros/Virgen capture bronze medal

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico, May 10, 2014 - Mexico’s Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen captured the men’s bronze medal at the double-gender Puerto Vallarta Open, the third event of the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball Word Tour calendar.

They came out strong and then gallantly held on to overcome Germany’s Eric Koreng/Finn Dittelbach, winning the first set 21-16, dropping the second 18-21 and then rallying in the deciding third set to win the match 21-19 in a very heated 62 minutes, the third-longest match of the men’s tournament.

Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins toppled Italy’s twin brothers Paolo Ingrosso/Matteo Ingrosso in straight sets, 21-17, 21-15 in 44 minutes to win the men’s gold medal.

The gold medal winners ended their first trip to Puerto Vallarta with an unblemished 7-0 record including winning all 14 sets they played and they will share $11,000 in prize money.

With their best career finish on the FIVB World Tour, Italy’s P. Ingrosso/M. Ingrosso leave Puerto Vallarta with a 6-1 tournament record, the silver medal and they will also have $8,000 in prize money to divide up.

In the first semifinal, Latvia’s Samoilovs/J. Smedins held off the attack from Germany’s Koreng/Dittelbach to win in twin sets, 21-17, 21-18 in 47 minutes.

In the second semi, Italy’s P. Ingrosso/M. Ingrosso outlasted the valiant effort of home country favorites in Mexico’s Ontiveros/Virgen in two sets, 28-26, 21-17 in 55 minutes.