At the Junior Pan American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay`s Denisse Alvarez and Fiorella Nunez achieved a bronze medal in women`s beach volleyball, thrilling local supporters. This remarkable success was significantly bolstered by support from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program. The program also played a role in the achievements of other nations, with Cuba`s men`s volleyball team securing a bronze in Asuncion. Earlier in the Games, the Dominican Republic`s women`s volleyball team, another beneficiary of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment funding, also earned a bronze medal.
Paraguay`s national beach volleyball teams have received substantial financial backing from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, totaling USD 336,000 for coach support. Most recently, they benefited from the invaluable expertise of Brazilian coach Ricardo Cesar Souza Da Silva. Additionally, Paraguay’s national federation’s beach volleyball program was granted another USD 12,000 for national team coach development knowledge transfer programs and USD 11,000 for essential beach volleyball equipment.
Women`s Beach Volleyball Performance
In the women`s beach volleyball competition held in the Paraguayan capital, Denisse Alvarez and Fiorella Nunez advanced to the semifinals after finishing second in Pool A, trailing only the eventual champions Emma Donley and Portia Sherman. Despite suffering a 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) upset at the hands of Venezuela’s Sara Lopez and Darlin Veronica Rodriguez in the semifinals, the Paraguayan duo showcased resilience, bouncing back with a decisive 2-1 (21-14, 19-21, 15-6) victory over Canada’s Jaeya Brach and Sophia Hladyniuk to proudly claim their bronze medal.
In the other semifinal, Donley and Sherman secured a 2-0 (22-20, 21-17) win against Brach and Hladyniuk. They subsequently went on to claim the title, sweeping Sara and Rodriguez 2-0 (21-16, 21-10) in the gold medal showdown, completing an impressive undefeated run of six matches throughout the tournament.
Women’s Beach Volleyball Results and Standings (Asuncion 2025)
Men`s Beach Volleyball Highlights
The gold medal in men`s beach volleyball was also won by an American team, Gage Basey and Thomas Hurst. They reached the semifinals without dropping a single set in their first four matches. Their successful campaign concluded with two challenging tie-breaker wins: a 2-1 (22-24, 21-16, 15-11) victory over Venezuela’s Enyenser Delgado and Juliangel Zaid in the semifinals, followed by another 2-1 (21-11, 16-21, 15-7) triumph against Brazil’s Isac Farias and Jose Jonathan Heleno de Menezes in the final.
Brazil’s Isac and Jonathan also had an undefeated path to the final, culminating in a tight 2-0 (23-21, 22-20) semifinal victory over Argentina’s Marcos Ezequiel Gonzalez and Fausto Inostroza. The bronze medal went to Enyenser and Juliangel, who made a remarkable comeback from a set down in the third-place match to defeat Gonzalez and Inostroza 2-1 (13-21, 21-16, 15-10).
Men`s Beach Volleyball Results and Standings (Asuncion 2025)
Overall, the beach volleyball tournament in Asuncion featured 16 women’s and 16 men’s pairs, representing a total of 19 member countries from NORCECA and CSV federations.
Men`s Indoor Volleyball Success and Awards
The Cuban Volleyball Federation has received USD 35,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their men’s national teams, benefiting from the expertise of statistician Rusber Campos. In the men’s indoor volleyball tournament at the Junior Pan American Games, the Cuban selection finished third in their Pool B, which allowed them to advance to the quarterfinals. There, they secured a convincing 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-22) win over Colombia. In a thrilling semifinal, Cuba pushed Brazil to five sets, but ultimately lost in the tie-breaker, 3-2 (14-25, 25-17, 26-24, 23-25, 15-11). Demonstrating their determination, they then settled for bronze after a 3-1 (22-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-23) comeback victory over Pool A winners Mexico in the third-place match.
The men`s indoor volleyball final was a gripping five-set battle between Pool B winners Brazil and runners-up Argentina, who had swept the other semifinal against Mexico 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-23). Brazil ultimately claimed the gold medal with a 3-2 (22-25, 25-25, 22-25, 27-25, 15-3) victory, notably coming back from a set down twice during the match. In the final standings for indoor volleyball, the Dominican Republic secured fifth place, followed by Colombia, Guatemala, and host nation Paraguay, ranking sixth to eighth respectively.
Brazil’s 21-year-old opposite and captain, Samuel Carazzai, was recognized as the tournament`s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and also received the Best Server award. The esteemed ‘Dream Team’ was composed of setter Ezequiel Vazquez (Argentina), opposite Jhon Mosquera (Colombia), outside hitters Yusniel Gonzalez (Cuba) and Maicon Dos Santos (Brazil), middle blockers Milton Martinez (Paraguay) and Moises Ortiz (Dominican Republic), and libero Mariano Gomez (Paraguay), who also earned the Best Digger recognition. The Best Receiver prize went to Argentina’s Federico Trucco, while Jhon Mosquera received an additional honor as the Best Scorer of the tournament.
Jasper Thornfield 
Finley Blackwood