AVP Stars Shine in Cayman Islands

AVP Stars Shine in Cayman Islands 

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands – AVP Stars Todd Rogers and Ryan Doherty took home a silver medal this past weekend, competing in the first event of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit in the Cayman Islands.

In their first-ever tournament together, Doherty and Rogers cruised through the first day, winning their first match 21-9, 21-12 over Richard Campbell and Philippe Deslandes of the Cayman Islands and then went on to beat Aseah Thomas and Anthony Pippen of U.S. Virgin Islands, 21-13, 21-14. 

The duo played their final pool play match Saturday morning against Carlos Talavera and Davis Vargas of El Salvador with first place on the line. Rogers and Doherty would not be denied, winning 21-11, 21-18, to advance to the single-elimination main draw.

In the quarterfinals, the pair dropped their first set of the tournament to Mexico’s Lombardo Ontiveros and Juan Virgen 21-19, but rebounded to win the next two, 24-22, 15-10 to advance to the semifinals. Rogers and Doherty then won in straight sets against Canadians Christian Redman and Matiej Zbyszewski, 21-19, 21-18, earning themselves a chance to play for the gold medal.

Defending champions Robert “Rafu” Rodriguez and Eric Haddock of Puerto Rico used a variety of shots to keep the American tandem off-balance and ultimately won the match 21-16, 21-18. While the duo came up short, Rogers was pleased with his and Doherty’s performance in their first event together.

“It’s our first tournament together and making it to the finals is pretty good,” Rogers said. “I’d rather have liked to win and we were close to make it, a point here and there, but I am pleased.”

Fellow AVP player Casey Jennings also competed in the event, playing with Stafford Slick to compile the second American team. The duo, competing in Pool D, won both their matches on Friday, taking down Simon Blake and Daneil Williams, 21-11, 21-14 and then Joseph Clercent and Julian Bissette, 21-12, 22-20.

On Saturday morning, Jennings and Slick completed their pool play sweep with a victory over Kyle Browne and Ronald Rice 21-11, 21-10. After advancing to the main draw, the pair fell short in the quarterfinals, losing to Canadians Christian Redmann and Maciej Zbyszewski, 21-19, 26-24, keeping them out of medal contention.

Rogers and Doherty will be back in action when they travel to Shanghai, China April 30-May 4 to compete in the FIVB’s Grand Slam tournament.

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Full results from the Cayman Islands Beach Volleyball Tournament can be found at www.norceca.net.