Double silver for Puerto Rico on the sands of Punta Cana

The Puerto Rican duos of María González and Allanis Navas, and Cristian Encarnación and Diego Rosich, both reached the podium on Sunday to claim silver medals in their respective divisions at the NORCECA Qualifying Tournament in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

By THE STAR STAFF

Puerto Rican beach volleyball celebrated a historic weekend at the NORCECA Qualifying Tournament in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

The Puerto Rican duos of María González and Allanis Navas, and Cristian Encarnación and Diego Rosich, both reached the podium on Sunday to claim silver medals in their respective divisions -- just one day after securing their spots at the Beach Volleyball World Championship, to be held in Adelaide, Australia from Nov. 14 to Nov. 23.

Encarnación and Rosich fell in the men’s final (21-13, 21-17) to the favored U.S. pair Miles Partain/Andy Benesh, while González and Navas faced the Canadian duo Marie-Alex Belanger/Lea Monkhouse in the women’s final, dropping a tightly contested three-set match decided by extra points (21-17, 15-21, 14-16).

The double runner-up finish marks one of the most significant achievements for Puerto Rican beach volleyball in recent years.

“Our duos -- Cristian and Diego on the men’s side, and Allanis and María on the women’s -- showed character, consistency and international-level performance,” said Sara Rosario Vélez, president of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee (COPUR by its acronym in Spanish). “With their silver medals in Punta Cana and their tickets to the World Championship in Australia, they reaffirm that Puerto Rico has the talent to compete at the highest level. At COPUR, we’ve invested in these athletes as national projects, providing follow-up and budgetary support, and today we’re seeing the fruits of that effort.”