After four consecutive years of holding the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Senior Men’s Beach Volleyball crown, Saint Lucia’s reign has come to an abrupt end. Three-time defending champions Joseph Clercent and Sheldon Descartes saw their unbroken run halted in the tournament semifinals, breaking the island nation’s streak of keeping the top men’s title on home soil. Meanwhile, there was bright news for Saint Lucia’s women’s squad, as Clio Phillip and Tenayestlgni Joseph fought their way to a silver medal finish at the three-day competition hosted at the Buckeye Facility in Cul de Sac, held from May 1 to 3.
The women’s tournament saw Phillip and Joseph deliver a series of impressive performances to advance deep into the knockout bracket. After powering past squads from Bermuda, Dominica, and Antigua & Barbuda in group play, the pair finished top of Pool A to secure their spot in the knockout rounds. They went on to defeat representatives from St Vincent & the Grenadines in the quarterfinals, before outperforming fellow Saint Lucian pairing Denila Prospere and Amalia Louis in a tense semifinal clash to book their place in the gold medal match.
In the highly anticipated final, Phillip and Joseph faced off against Grenada’s standout duo Thornia Mitchell and Renisha Stafford. After dropping the opening set 21-18, the Saint Lucian pair rallied strongly to take the second set 21-19, forcing a decisive third set to decide the champion. However, Grenada’s pair maintained steady, composed play through the final frame, eventually closing out a 15-10 third-set win to claim the gold medal. The bronze medal match saw Dominica’s Joyan Pascal and Adicia Burton secure third place, defeating Prospere and Louis 2-1 (21-15, 20-22, 15-8).
On the men’s side, Clercent and Descartes entered the tournament as heavy favorites, having won the title three times running and held the crown for four consecutive years. They started their campaign in dominant form, beating squads from Dominica and Grenada in the group stage before overcoming another Saint Lucian pairing, Diallo Albert and Levi Leonce, in the quarterfinals. Up until their semifinal matchup, the defending champions had not dropped a single set throughout the entire tournament.
Their clash against St Maarten’s Shreefkerk Jacob and Rajheem Meulens would upend the defending champions’ run. The Saint Lucian duo dropped the first set in a lopsided 35-23 result, before bouncing back to level the match with a 21-13 win in the second. The tight third set ultimately went the way of St Maarten, who took the decider 15-12 to eliminate the three-time champions from medal contention. Following their semifinal defeat, Clercent and Descartes opted to forfeit the bronze medal match.
In total, the 2026 ECVA Senior Beach Volleyball Championships brought together competing teams from nine different Caribbean territories. Over three full days of competition, which included group pool play, knockout rounds, and final medal matches, the event drew enthusiastic local crowds to the Cul de Sac host venue.