Americans and Costa Ricans dominate first day in Boca Chica Beach 

BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic, April 15, 2006.- Costa Ricans brothers Alexander and Gilberto Villegas and Americans William Strickland and Adam Roberts led their respective pools with unbeaten record (3-0) during the first day of action of the NORCECA’s Men Continental Beach Volleyball Tournament.

Playing in Pool A, Villegas siblings first defeated Jeovanny Medrano and Carlos Leiva of El Salvador 23-21, 21-17, then beat Dominican Republic II (Jewddys Perez-Charly Vargas) 21-12, 21-18 and Dominican Republic I (Juan Pozo-Francisco Abreu) 21-12, 21-17.

In Pool B, Strickland-Roberts crushed Dominican Republic III (Ezequiel Castillo-Roberto de Jesus) 21-8, 21-13 and Dominican Republic IV (Charles Hodge-Alex Soriano) 21-10, 21-10, before bettering Puerto Ricans Raul Papaleo-Joseph Gil 25-23, 22-20 in a match between the two favourites.

“The victory over El Salvador was important because they are our biggest rivals in Central America,” said Gilberto Villegas. “It is a good way to start but tomorrow we need to keep the momentum.”

“This is our first tournament playing as partners,” said the American Roberts. “We are starting to warm-up but definitely we came here to win the title.”

Qualified for the Saturday round are also Medrano-Leiva (2-1) and Pozo-Abreu (1-2) from Pool A and Papaleo-Gil (2-1) and Castillo-de Jesus (1-2).