U.S. Men's Team Finishes
Third in Guatemala
By Stephane Babcock
The U.S. team of Jon “JT” Thompson and Brad Torsone left the black sand-covered beaches of Guatemala with the bronze medal in their bags after defeating the Puerto Rico pair of Joseph Gil and Ryan Underwood at the second stop of the 2007 NORCECA Beach Circuit on April 22.
“I don’t think we played our best,” said Torsone. “There was a lot we had to adapt to, like the Molten ball, which was almost like plastic; it was hard to set and get the top spin on. Realistically, we were the best team there.”
Guatemala is not a place where beach volleyball immediately comes to mind, especially as its landlocked. But then again so are most of the AVP stops these days.
“The black sand had to be constantly hosed down because it was so hot, sometimes in the middle of a play, and it was a lot firmer, like playing on cement,” added JT on the constructed surface.
The three day-event at the Sports Park of Campo Marte in Guatemala City, which at times seemed a bit disorganized according to the players, included 14 male teams and a dozen female pairs. On Friday, the U.S. team defeated Shawn Seabrookes and St. Claire Hodge of St. Kitts and Nevis in two sets (21-13, 21-18).
“Ball control was definitely our strength. There were some really athletic players, but they didn’t have a lot of beach volleyball experience,” said Torsone.
Day two ended with JT and Torsone blazing through Shervin Rankin and Olmey Thompson of the Cayman Islands (21-11, 21-14).
The last day of the competition saw a defeat and victory against teams from Puerto Rico, as they beat Joseph Gil and Ryan Underwood after falling to eventual silver medalists Juan Carlos Rivera and Abdel Otero.
“It was unfortunate we met (Rivera and Otero) we did when we did. We just had a bad game,” said JT. “We were able to get revenge on the next Puerto Rican team by beating them bad.”
Cubans Yoendris Alvarez and Yunieski Ramirez took the gold. On the women's side, the U.S. team of Renee Cleary and Jenny Kropp lost in the quarterfinals.
Torsone said he walked away from the tournament with lessons learned.
“You always have to be ready to adapt. You have to be ready to accept any challenge,” he said.
So the real question is, how were the parties in the land of Mayan ruins?
"Friday night and Saturday night was the their time to go out, and that was it, but we had to play," added Torsone, who spent most of his downtime reading and trying to relax between games.
More on the games can be found online.
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