Mexico and Puerto Rico earn NORCECA Tour medals with FIVB Empowerment support

Teams from USA also make continental podiums in Honduras

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Jul 2, 2025
Mexico and Puerto Rico earn NORCECA Tour medals with FIVB Empowerment support

FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported Mexico collected as many as three of the six medals handed out at last week’s NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour event in Puerto Cortes, Honduras – men’s gold and bronze, and women’s silver. Also benefiting from the program, Puerto Rico picked up the women’s gold. The men’s silver and the women’s bronze went to USA.

The Federacion Mexicana de Voleibol has so far been allocated a total funding of USD 1,466,000 from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment. A large portion of that amount has been tagged for coach support of their beach volleyball national teams, in addition to USD 23,000 in beach volleyball equipment. Mexico’s men’s national duos are training under the supervision of Argentinean coach Ruben Barrera, while their female compatriots are coached by Brazilian instructor Reis Castro. The Federacion Puertorriquena de Voleibol’s beach volleyball department has been funded by FIVB Volleyball Empowerment with a total of USD 168,000 in coach support for their national duos, in addition to USD 17,500 in beach volleyball equipment. Coach Angel Pena is in charge of the Puerto Rican teams.

23-year-old Allanis Navas & Maria Gonzalez of Puerto Rico claimed their second consecutive gold on the NORCECA Tour, after topping the podium in Juan Dolio back in May, and further enriched their medal collection from the Tour which now features six gold, six silver and three bronze medals. The top-seeded Puerto Ricans cruised through the tournament in Puerto Cortes on a run of seven victories in a row. The second set of their 2-1 (21-8, 18-21, 15-11) semifinal win over fourth-seeded Americans Emma Donley & Portia Sherman was the only one they lost in the entire competition. In the gold medal showdown (pictured in the main photo; source: NORCECA), Navas & Gonzales achieved a 2-0 (21-16, 21-17) win over second-seeded Susana Torres & Atenas Gutierrez of Mexico.

Torres & Gutierrez reached the final without losing any sets in the five matches played on the way. They crowned their impressive run with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) semifinal shutout of fifth-seeded Maya McNabney & Emma Kunaus of Canada and secured the pair’s eighth NORCECA medal. They have now collected seven silvers (three in a row this season) and one bronze, and are yet to triumph on top of a continental podium.

In the third-place game, Donley & Sherman managed a 2-1 (21-18, 16-21, 15-9) victory over McNabney & Kunaus.

Women’s results and standings

Mexico’s Antonio Lares & Carlos Andres Ayala, seeded 14th in the men’s main draw, lost only two sets in the seven matches played on the way to the gold medals in Honduras. In the semifinals, they put together a hard-fought 2-1 (29-27, 25-27, 15-7) upset of top-seeded compatriots Miguel Sarabia & Jorman Osuna, and went on to master a 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) sweep of the final against 13th-seeded Troy Field & Ryan Wilcox of the United States, collecting their first gold and second medal (after the Juan Dolio bronze) on the NORCECA Tour. In the other semifinal, Field & Wilcox produced a 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) win over second-seeded compatriots James Drost & Robert Harrison.

Sarabia & Osuna bounced back with a 2-1 (16-21, 21-18, 15-13) turnaround victory over Drost & Harrison for the bronze, their third continental medal together, adding it to their two gold medals so far on the Tour.

Men’s results and standings

A total of 17 women’s and 19 men’s teams representing 13 different national federations competed in Puerto Cortes.

Next up, the fourth stop on the 2025 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour will be held in Madero, Mexico, from July 11 to 13.

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