Bermuda’s Olivia Gazzard and Sophie Weikl have concluded their 2026 NORCECA Under-18 World Championship qualifying campaign with an eighth-place finish, marking a significant step forward for the island’s beach volleyball program.
While the final day in the Dominican Republic brought two tough defeats against high-seeded opposition, the Bermudian duo can hold their heads high after improving on last year’s tenth-place standing and gaining vital experience ahead of July’s World Championships in the Netherlands.
The final day of action in Juan Dolio began with high stakes in the quarter-final losers’ semi-final. Facing the tournament’s third seeds, Zoe Paniagua Portorreal and Yerelin Carlenis Reyes Montero, the Bermudians battled against a vocal home crowd and the hosts’ superior height advantage. Despite a spirited defensive effort, the Dominican pair secured a 2–0 victory (21–13, 21–10) in 31 minutes, relegating Bermuda to the seventh-place play-off.
In their final outing, Gazzard and Weikl faced a familiar foe in the fourth-seeded Puerto Rican duo of Ana Isabel Barcias Aponte and Coralys Perez Ortiz. While the familiarity led to several long, tactical rallies, the Puerto Ricans proved more clinical at the net, claiming a 2–0 win (21–13, 21–12) to secure seventh.
Despite the results, moving from tenth in the region to eighth within a single year demonstrates clear development for the partnership. The focus now shifts to the European summer, where the duo will look to apply these lessons on the global stage in the Netherlands.
