--- title: "USA win gold at NORCECA U18 Qualifier in Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic; Worlds quotas awarded to top five per gender" sdDatePublished: "2026-04-28T12:07:00Z" source: "https://www.fivb.com/empowerment-beach-volleyball-beneficiaries-medal-at-norceca-u18s/" topics: - name: "beach volleyball" identifier: "medtop:20001090" - name: "sport event" identifier: "medtop:20001108" - name: "sport achievement" identifier: "medtop:20001301" - name: "sports coaching" identifier: "medtop:20001323" - name: "sport" identifier: "medtop:15000000" locations: - "Netherlands" - "United States" - "Costa Rica" - "Canada" - "El Salvador" - "Barbados" - "Puerto Rico" - "Nicaragua" - "Dominican Republic" --- USA win gold at NORCECA U18 Qualifier in Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic; Worlds quotas awarded to top five per gender Empowerment beach volleyball beneficiaries medal at NORCECA U18s – FIVB Three of the six medals at last week’s NORCECA U18 Beach Volleyball Championships went to duos representing FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported federations. Francisco De Jesus & Franklin Segura(pictured in the main photo; source: norceca.net)of the host nation Dominican Republic and Justin Barrios & Matthew Kempf of Nicaragua claimed silver and bronze, respectively, in the men’s tournament, while Canada’s Julia McDougall & Natalia Casas picked up the women’s silver. US teams – Gavin Mortensen & Caden Phillips and Lauren Leach & Janie McCanna – topped the podiums, while the women’s bronze went to El Salvador’s Fatima Rendon & Devora Medina. The event in Juan Dolio served as a qualifier for the 2026 FIVB U18 Beach Volleyball World Championships, with the top five teams in each gender earning quota for their countries. NORCECA U18 Beach Volleyball Qualifying Tournament medallistGirls🥇Lauren Leach — NorcecaInfo (@Norceca_Info)April 26, 2026 Dominican Republic’s beach volleyball department has been granted USD 42,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national duos, training under the supervision of Cuban expert Alexander Masso Reyes, in addition to USD 11,500 in beach volleyball equipment and USD 6,000 for a national team coach development knowledge transfer program. Volleyball Canada’s beach volleyball department has so far been allocated a total of USD 252,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national duos. The women’s pairs are working under Serbian coach Srdjan Veckov. In addition, a USD 6,000 has been granted for a national team coach development knowledge transfer program. Federacion Nicaraguense de Voleibol has been funded with USD 31,500 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their national beach volleyball teams, currently guided by Cuban instructor Eduardo Palomo Zayas. Franklin Segura 🇩🇴 clinched a spot in the finals!De Jesús Segura 🇩🇴 advance to the final after securing a 2-0 victory against Carrillo Figueroa 🇵🇷 (21-19, 21-17) at the NORCECA U18 Beach Volleyball Qualifying Tournament. Francisco De Jesus & Franklin Segura of the Dominican Republic stormed the men’s tournament with a five-match winning streak, crowned with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) semifinal victory over Puerto Rico’s Adrian Carrillo & Rocco Figueroa, to secure both a spot on the podium and a spot at the U18 World Championship. In the other semifinal, top-seeded Americans Gavin Mortensen & Caden Phillips achieved a 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) win over Nicaragua’s Justin Barrios & Matthew Kempf. Barrios & Kempf bounced back with a 2-0 (21-12, 23-21) victory over Carrillo & Figueroa to snatch the bronze, while Mortensen & Phillips brought home gold after a 2-0 (21-18, 21-8) sweep of the final against De Jesus & Segura and finished the competition on a run of six straight-set wins. Bronze 🥉 goes to Matthew Kempf Justin Dinarte 🇳🇮 following a 2-0 (21-12, 23-21) win against Adrian Carrillo Rocco Figueroa 🇵🇷 at the NORCECA U18 at the NORCECA U18 Beach Volleyball Qualifying Tournament. The fifth NORCECA spot at the U18 World Championship was claimed by Cael Greenidge & Joshua Ashby of Barbados. Canada’s Julia McDougall & Natalia Casas cruised to the women’s final without dropping a single set in the five matches along the way. They decorated their successful run with a 2-0 (21-8, 21-11) semifinal victory over El Salvador’s Fatima Rendon & Devora Medina, who then recovered with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-12) shutout of Costa Rica’s Keila Moreno & Ingrid Nunez. Natalia Casas 🇨🇦 clinch their spot in the final.Julia McDougall and Natalia Casas defeated Rendon Medina 🇸🇻 2-0 (21-8, 21-11) to advance to the gold medal match at the NORCECA U18 Beach Volleyball Qualifying Tournament. USA’s Lauren Leach & Janie McCanna also conquered the women’s trophy with a perfect record of six straight-set victories. In the semifinals, they hammered out a 2-0 (21-6, 21-9) shutout of Moreno & Nunez, and in the final, they mastered an emphatic 2-0 (21-9, 21-8) victory over McDougall & Casas. Dominican Republic’s Zoe Paniagua & Yerelin Reyes finished fifth and also booked a ticket to the U18 World Championship in the Netherlands. 12 men’s and 12 women’s duos representing 14 different federations took part in the tournament. 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