At the conclusion of the third tournament in the 2017 NORCECA Continental Tour in Ochos Rios, Jamaica, two United States pairs ended with a podium finish. The Americans now have five medals on the NORCECA Tour this season, three women’s and two men’s.
Bill Kolinske and Miles Evans took home a silver medal on the men’s side of the tournament, following a 4-2 week. The two were 2-1 after pool play and took down a Guatemalan pair in three sets in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Kolinske/Evans took on Canada’s Aaron Nusbaum/Josh Binstock 2-1, (14-21, 22-20, 15-12). In the finals, they were halted by Cuba’s Karell Pina/Daisel Quesada, who took their gold medal run away with a 2-0, (21-13, 22-20) victory. The win for Pina/Quesada was the pair’s third gold medal finish this season.
On the women’s side of the tournament, Karissa Cook/Katie Spieler earned a bronze medal in their first international event as a pair. The duo finished pool play with a perfect 3-0 record, before winning their quarterfinal match over Guatemala. The pair moved on to the semifinals, where they were defeated by Cuba in straight sets. In the bronze medal match, Cook/Spieler took down Canada’s Helene Rancourt/Sarah Meunier-Bedard 2-0, (21-18, 21-13). In addition to the tournament being the first as a pair for Cook/Spieler, it was Cook’s international debut tournament, along with Spieler’s second career NORCECA medal.
Taking gold on the women’s side of the tournament was Canada’s Sophie Bukovec and Jamie Broder. Bukovec is a recent graduate of USC where she helped the team to the 2017 NCAA Beach Championship title.
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