NORCECA Gold for Julia Scoles and Betsi Flint

Two tournaments have Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles played in their new partnerships, and two finals have they made.

The first came last weekend at the Volleyball World Torquay Elite 16, which concluded on December 3. They left Australia with silver medals, and one of the longest possible itineraries ahead of them, to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, for the NORCECA Continental Championships.

Whatever jet lag there may have been for the two, it didn’t show, as Flint and Scoles won all five matches without dropping a  set, sweeping Puerto Rico’s Allanis Navas and Maria Gonzalez, 21-16, 21-19 to win gold.

“It’s exciting winning the gold,” Flint told NORCECA. “It was a battle of who was going to be better in the win and we are excited to get this experience together as a team; and just put the pressure on them.”

Small as the event may have been — just 12 teams competed, due mostly to the last minute arrangement of the Championships — the finish is a massive one for both, and particularly Scoles. The 800 points awarded to the team — the equivalent of winning a Volleyball World Challenge event — mark the second-best finish for Scoles, and the fourth for Flint. While it won’t immediately help Flint’s points, it will serve as a bottom-holder of sorts when she loses her gold medal — and 600 points — finish at the Hamburg Elite 16.

Bronze went to the new Canadian pairing of Amanda Harnett and Marie-Alex Belanger, who came back to beat Mexico’s Atenas Gutierrez and Abril Flores, 18-21, 21-10, 17-15.

On the men’s side, Canadians Sam Schachter and Dan Dearing finished their debut season in style, winning their first medal as a team and making it a gold one at that. Their route was not an easy one, requiring wins against Americans Chaim Schalk and Theo Brunner in the semifinals, and Cubans Noslen Diaz and Jorge Alayo in the final. The gold medal match was actually rematch of a pool play bout, where Cuba, who medaled in all four NORECECAs they played this season, swept the Canadians.

“It was very difficult and exciting, Cuba is extremely talented,” Schachter told NORCECA. “I’m so blessed to have such a talented partner that did so well and steady the entire time. It was windy out here and the conditions were difficult to play in, the level was very high.”

The points bump for the Canadians is significant,…