Isabella Sousa and Olivia Gazzard received a warm welcome as they returned home after winning gold medals for Bermuda at the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association under-20 Championships.

Family members and Government officials were at LF Wade International Airport on Tuesday to give the pair a hearty reception after they made the island proud by defeating local favourites Azaria Amritt and Arjenel Browne 2-1 in a thrilling final in St Kitts & Nevis at the weekend.

For Gazzard, it was a perfect early birthday present as she is turning 17 next Wednesday.

“We’re super excited and thankful for this amazing experience,” Gazzard told The Royal Gazette.

“We’re thankful for our coaches and family for getting us out there and I think we had a lot of fun. The competition was super hard and the last game definitely kept us on our toes. They challenged us but we were able to earn more points and were able to pull off a win.

“The last game was definitely our toughest. It was against the St Kitts No 1 team and we went all the way to three sets. Isabella’s family was there and we had the boys team supporting us as well. They were super loud for us.”

Sousa, who partnered Hailey Trott to win bronze at the same tournament in St Kitts two years ago, was delighted to clinch gold.

“I’m very excited and I’m so proud of both of us,” the 18-year-old said.

“It was just such an amazing experience and we worked well together. I’m just so glad that we came home with the gold, we worked really hard and we were really determined.

“I feel like such success motivates us more as young players. It just shows that if we work hard and we’re determined, we can definitely reach our goals.

“That third set was definitely the toughest for us. We were going back and forth until we just broke away with three points.

“We made it 15-12, which was really hard. I felt like the whole time we had to depend on each other and trust each other, which is what beach volleyball is all about.

“The training camp was really good. I feel like it definitely got us acclimatised to the weather as it was windy and then the competition was very tough.”

While Sousa had some family members present, Bermuda also got to enjoy support from the other islands when they faced St Kitts in the final.

“My mum and my brother came and it was really nice having them as support,” she said.

“During the final some of the other countries that we befriended also supported us as well, which was really nice.

“Because St Kitts were at home, they enjoyed most of the support but Antigua, St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, were some of the countries that supported us.”

Meagan McPeek, the women’s coach, praised the young duo for showing resilience in challenging conditions.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever won gold in that tournament, so it was great,” McPeek said.

“The conditions were tough as it was really windy the whole week. Going to the training camp was good, they got to acclimate a bit and then they just came out really strong.

“They were undefeated all the way up to that final match. It was definitely the two strongest teams there, so it just made for great volleyball.

“Our girls really showed a lot of tenacity even through pool play. They had a couple of times when they just had to battle through some things, some issues with crowd noise and stuff like that, which was new to Bermuda for sure.

“To come back and play St Kitts in the final was very exciting. They dropped a set and that’s the first time in this whole tournament that they dropped a set.

“So they won the first one, had a hard time in the second one and had to totally come back and regroup and come out super strong for the short third set.

“Their serving was amazing and they played great defence. Olivia was putting the ball away and they did a really good job.

“Beach volleyball is a lot about the chemistry between two people. They were leaning on each other as needed, picking up slack for each other whenever needed and just super well-balanced.”

With both players still having a couple of years in the under-20 age group, McPeek envisions a bright future for the pair.

“It’s great that they’ll be going together for more tournaments,” she said.

“In that way we’re developing partnerships that ideally we can rely on and it’s same with the boys.

“We took a super young team even for the men’s under-20. They played against some big strong guys who’ve been doing it for a really long time and they held their own.

“They were ninth of 14 teams. For their very first tournament, that’s really good because there’s a lot of things you only get through experience.”

Melanie Sousa, the only parent who made the trip, was elated to witness her daughter and her team-mate pulling off the win.

“I’m absolutely proud of both of them,” she said.

“It was exciting and nerve-racking in the last match. We went three sets and our girls rallied and they worked together. They communicated and pulled it off. We also had some islands supporting us in the final. It was a little bit of banter, which was fun.”

Lori Gazzard, Olivia’s mother, was one of those waiting for the team’s arrival at the airport and while dhe did not make the trip to the Caribbean, she was glued to the livestream.

“We were hoping for the best and that they would win some games, but we weren’t expecting them to come home with gold,” she said.

“It was great and they played so well together. We watched every game online, it was a very exciting moment and the last point was super exciting.”