At the Junior Pan American Games in Asunción, Paraguayan beach volleyball duo Denisse Alvarez and Fiorella Nunez brought immense joy to local fans by securing a bronze medal. This remarkable achievement was made possible, in part, through significant support from the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment program. The program`s positive impact was further demonstrated by other beneficiaries: Cuba`s men`s volleyball team also earned a bronze medal in Asunción, and the Dominican Republic, another recipient of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment support, had previously claimed the women`s volleyball bronze.
Paraguay`s national beach volleyball program has been a major beneficiary of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, receiving a total of USD 336,000 in coaching support. Most recently, the program leveraged the expertise of Brazilian coach Ricardo Cesar Souza Da Silva. Further assistance included an additional USD 12,000 designated for national team coach development knowledge transfer programs and USD 11,000 for essential beach volleyball equipment.
Women`s Beach Volleyball Highlights
In the women`s beach volleyball tournament in the Paraguayan capital, Denisse Alvarez and Fiorella Nunez emerged as Pool A runners-up to Emma Donley and Portia Sherman, who would go on to become champions. Navigating the challenging elimination rounds, the Paraguayan pair reached the semifinals. Although they faced a 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) defeat at the hands of Venezuela’s Sara Lopez and Darlin Veronica Rodriguez, they quickly rebounded. Displaying resilience, Alvarez and Nunez secured the bronze medal with a hard-fought 2-1 (21-14, 19-21, 15-6) victory over Canada’s Jaeya Brach and Sophia Hladyniuk. Meanwhile, Donley and Sherman continued their dominant performance, defeating Brach and Hladyniuk 2-0 (22-20, 21-17) in the other semifinal, and ultimately claimed the gold medal with a clean 2-0 (21-16, 21-10) sweep against Lopez and Rodriguez, remaining undefeated throughout their six matches.
Men`s Beach Volleyball Highlights
The men’s beach volleyball gold medal was claimed by the American team of Gage Basey and Thomas Hurst. They impressively advanced to the semifinals without dropping a single set in four matches. Their path to gold required two 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. Isac and Jonathan also reached the final undefeated, capping their five-game winning streak with a tight 2-0 (23-21, 22-20) semifinal victory over Argentina’s Marcos Ezequiel Gonzalez and Fausto Inostroza. The bronze medal was awarded to Delgado and Zaid, who staged a comeback from a set down to defeat Gonzalez and Inostroza 2-1 (13-21, 21-16, 15-10) in the third-place match.
The beach volleyball competition at the Junior Pan American Games in Asunción was a vibrant showcase of talent, featuring 16 women’s and 16 men’s pairs, representing a total of 19 NORCECA and CSV member countries.
Men`s Indoor Volleyball Tournament
The Cuban Volleyball Federation 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 squad finished third in Pool B, progressing to the quarterfinals where they secured a decisive 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). Despite this, they clinched the bronze medal with a strong 3-1 (22-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-23) comeback victory against Pool A winners Mexico in the third-place match. The final featured a captivating five-set battle between Pool B winners Brazil and runners-up Argentina. Brazil ultimately triumphed 3-2 (22-25, 25-25, 22-25, 27-25, 15-3) to claim the gold medal, demonstrating remarkable resilience by twice coming back from a set down. The Dominican Republic, Colombia, Guatemala, and host nation Paraguay finished in fifth to eighth place, respectively, in the final standings.
Individual Accolades and Dream Team
Brazil’s 21-year-old opposite and captain, Samuel Carazzai, was recognized as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament 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). Gomez further distinguished himself by earning the Best Digger recognition. The Best Receiver prize was awarded to Argentina’s Federico Trucco, while Jhon Mosquera received an additional honor as the Best Scorer of the tournament.
Oliver Wrenwick 
Finley Blackwood