The entire men’s podium at last week’s Lima stop on the CSV South American Beach Volleyball Tour was occupied by teams benefiting from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment funding. Tomas Capogrosso & Nicolas Capogrosso of Argentina, Yeferson De La Hoz & Juan Carlos Noriega of Colombia and Gonzalo Melgarejo & Giuliano Massare of Paraguay lined up with gold, silver and bronze, respectively. The women’s bronze also went to a team, supported by the program – Paraguay’s Michelle Valiente & Giuliana Poletti Corrales. The women’s podium was topped by Brazil’s Verena Figueira & Thainara Feitosa, while Argentina’s Agostina Ghigliazza & Morena Abdala brought home silver.
The Federacion del Voleibol Argentino’s beach volleyball department has been assisted with USD 42,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their men’s national duos, trained by instructor Giuliano Mezzagno. Colombia’s beach volleyball department has received USD 84,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national duos, working under Puerto Rican coach Juan Cartagena. The national beach volleyball teams of Paraguay have so far been funded with a total of USD 336,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. Currently, they are trained by Brazilian coach Adriano Garrido. Paraguay’s national federation’s beach volleyball program has been granted another USD 12,000 for national team coaches development knowledge transfer programs and USD 11,000 in beach volleyball equipment.
Seeded third in the men’s main draw in Lima, Argentina’s Tomas Capogrosso & Nicolas Capogrosso reached the final on a run of four straight-set victories, crowned with a 2-0 (21-8, 21-16) semifinal win over top-seeded Gonzalo Melgarejo & Giuliano Massare. The Capogrosso brothers lost their first set of the tournament in the final (pictured in the main photo; source: CSV – Confederación Sudamericana de Voleibol), when they celebrated a 2-1 (20-22, 21-18, 15-12) success over seventh-seeded Yeferson De La Hoz & Juan Carlos Noriega.
The Colombians also made it to the gold medal showdown without dropping a single set in four matches played. In the semifinals, Yeferson & Noriega managed a 2-0 (21-18, 23-21) win over sixth-seeded Nicolas Llambias & Lucas Mocellini of Uruguay.
The Paraguayan bracket leaders bounced back from their first and only loss of the competition in the semis with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-12) shutout of Llambias & Mocellini for the bronze.
Paraguayan Olympians Michelle Valiente & Giuliana Poletti Corrales were seeded second in the women’s main draw in Peru. After three consecutive wins, they suffered their first setback in the semifinals, a 2-1 (16-21, 21-18, 15-11) upset at the hands of 10th-seeded Agostina Ghigliazza & Morena Abdala of Argentina. Michelle & Corrales had to deal with another Argentinean pair – sixth-seeded Agnes Michel Tosi & Brenda Churin – in the battle for the third place, but this time they won the tie-breaker for a 2-1 (18-21, 21-13, 15-13) comeback victory and made the podium.
Top-seeded Brazilians Verena Figueira & Thainara Feitosa cruised through the tournament without losing any sets in five matches played. In their semifinal, they hammered out a 2-0 (21-16, 21-8) shutout of Michel Tosi & Churin, and in the gold medal showdown, they mastered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-11) victory over Ghigliazza & Abdala
15 men’s and 16 women’s duos representing 10 South American countries – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela – took part in the Lima tournament.
The next South American Tour stop will take place in Asuncion, Paraguay from April 24 to 26.
