USA’s Massey & Davis sweep U19 women’s final to triumph as world champs

USA’s Myriah Massey & Lily Davis shut out Spain’s Sofia Izuzquiza & Marta Carro in Sunday’s final to triumph as U19 world champions in women’s beach volleyball. In another American sweep at the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships in Shangluo earlier in the day, Sally Perez & Sarah Wood took the bronze, leaving Thailand’s Varagkhana Sogalee & Somruedee Koedkaew in fourth place.

• Watch FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championship replays on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel

18-year-old Massey and 17-year-old Davis were quite convincing in both sets of the gold medal match in China and celebrated the world crown after a 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) sweep. The American pair started the tournament from the qualifiers, but eight wins and one loss later, they could triumph as champions of the world. It was the third time in history a US duo claims the U19 women’s world title. At the previous edition of the tournament two years ago, Massey took the silver medal in partnership with Ashley Pater, but now went one step higher with Lily Davis, all the way to the top of the podium. For Davis, this was the first major international competition of her career.

“The gold medal means everything to us,” she said after the final. “Representing our country is a blessing. It's so cool to see new places this way. And I think just working this hard to win it all is a great feeling!”

“I think our biggest achievement was getting out of the qualifier because we wouldn't have been able to get all the way here if we didn't take care of business in the first few matches that we played,” Myriah Massey added.

Before falling to the Americans and settling as runners-up, Izuzquiza & Carro reached the final on a six-match winning run. The two 18-year-old Spanish athletes are a bit more experienced when it comes to playing international tournaments. Last year, they triumphed as U18 European champions, but the U19 silver they claimed in Shangluo was the first world-level medal for either of them. It was also Spain’s best achievement in the history of the competition, after their compatriots Daniela Alvarez & Tania Moreno took the bronze in 2018.

“I am super happy for this result,” said Marta Carro. “I would have liked to get the gold medal, but it was not possible, because our opponents were very good. I can only say thank you to my partner, because she is the best.”

“We are going to keep training, because we have to improve,” commented Sofia Izuzquiza. “We are also going to study at university in the United States. Our opportunity is going to be amazing now, so we are going to work harder.”

In the bronze medal match earlier on Sunday, 17-year-old Sally Perez and 16-year-old Sarah Wood secured a second American spot on the podium by delivering a 2-0 (21-17, 21-16) victory over Thailand’s Varagkhana & Somruedee. So after going through the tournament on a 6-1 win-loss record, they decorated their duo’s first world-level appearance with bronze, bringing USA’s total medal count in the history of the competition up to seven.

“Yesterday we suffered after the loss, but I think we really pushed to bounce back in today's match. We really wanted that medal. We worked for it,” said Wood. “We really just stuck together. That was a big part of it. We knew we were not going to be able to do it by ourselves, so we really just pushed to stay together as a team. I would like to say thanks to my parents for sure, for staying up very late to watch.”

“I think after yesterday we knew we had more to prove to the world. So I'm so happy that we could take a little bit of time to be sad about it,” Perez pointed out. “We came back and we came out stronger this time. I'm just really proud of how we responded. I think at the beginning of the tournament we started a little bit slow, but then we got better in every aspect. Thank you, God. My cup is overflowed with blessings. I am thankful to him for every day I'm alive. And then to my parents whose support I can just feel come my way across the globe. And then to everyone from the USA squad.”

FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships: all results

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