Jayrack De La Noche and Alexander Iraya took their first loss in the 2021 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships at the hands of USA’s Matthew Gentry and Philip Catanzaro, Thursday in Phuket, Thailand.
The pair of UST high school student-athletes succumbed to the late surge of USA’s Matthew Gentry and Philip Catanzaro in the opening set and lost, 14-21.
De La Noche and Iraya then recovered to lead the second set early before they needed to fend off the Americans to force the third and deciding set at 21-19.
Nonetheless, the experience of the American duo of Gentry and Catanzaro ultimately prevailed in the final frame, 15-8.
In the other Pool G match, Hungary’s Csanad Petik and Domonkos Doczi took down Canada’s Colby Nemeth and Josh Gagnon in two sets for their first win of the tournament and the tie with the Philippines in the standings at 1-1.
De La Noche-Iraya and the Hungarians will fight for a possible second spot in the pool standings with a win over the other on Friday at 10:40 a.m. on Court 4.
