Bermuda’s coaches have spoken of the valuable lessons learnt by their players at the US Open Volleyball Championships, which concluded on Wednesday in Denver, Colorado.

Bermuda’s men’s team, who played in the tournament as Ace Boyz, finished 29th of 33 teams, while Devil’s Isle, the women's team, finished 35th of 37 sides when the prestigious tournament came to a close at Colorado Convention Centre.

Despite their finishing position, men’s head coach Mike Smith was pleased with the progress made by the team.

“I’m very proud of how our guys performed,” Smith told The Royal Gazette.

“We entered the tournament with a clear, strategic game plan, and they executed it well with focus and confidence.

“The team fought hard against some serious competition. They battled back to win games and really kept it dialled in.

“Although we had a tough loss on the third day, the first two days of the tournament were a great indicator of how much work and dedication the team has put in this year.”

Braedon Madeiros-Cooke, the women’s head coach, stated that while results did not go their way, the team showed some improvement.

“The US Open has been a great learning experience for the women’s team,” he said.

“There have been many positives that came out of the three-day tournament which will only benefit the programme as a whole. Unfortunately, we did not get the results we were looking for, but we are still proud of the progress we have made throughout the tournament.

“As the coaching staff, we are grateful for what this tournament has offered us. It has allowed us to experience volleyball at a high level providing us and our players a way to compare ourselves to other teams from different countries.

“Next year we are looking forward to continuing focusing on what worked well and improve on areas where we need to."