Isabella Sousa and Olivia Gazzard have won gold medals for Bermuda at the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association under-20 Championships.

Gazzard and Sousa beat local favourites Azaria Amritt and Arjenel Browne, from St Kitts & Nevis, 2-1 in a see-saw final.

The Bermuda pair took the first set 21-16 but were forced into a third set after the St Kitts duo won the second set 21-11. In a close final set, Sousa and Gazzard held their nerve to win 15-12 and secure the gold medal.

The final capped a remarkable tournament for the two young women, who came through pool C without dropping a set, picking up wins against teams from Dominica, St Kitts & Nevis and Sint Maarten.

After winning gold, Sousa and Gazzard were interviewed on local television and outlined their emotions.

“It was such a fairytale competition,” Gazzard said. “I just want to say thank you to family, coaches and friends for supporting us.”

Sousa added: “The final was really tough, we had to lean on each other for the whole game and I’m just so thankful for this opportunity and for being able to win for our supporters and our family.”

Meagan McPeek, acting head coach for the tournament, was thrilled with the performance.

“I’m so proud of the girls; they were amazing,” McPeek said.

“They had to battle through some tough wind conditions here but they were just super strong and were undefeated all the way to the gold medal match today.

“That game went to three, so they really had to battle through. They played a tough team today and it was probably the best volleyball of the whole tournament between definitely the top two teams.”

McPeek was impressed with how the girls gelled as a team, particularly as Gazzard was a late replacement for the injured Hailey Trott.

“I was really pleased with their composure and their partnership,” she said. “They really figured out how to lean on each other when they needed to, how to switch up and who was picking up extra slack. Their willingness to be super excited for each other's victories was absolutely what carried them through.

“We didn’t have any idea what sort of teams would be here this year and Hailey Trott was originally selected, but she unfortunately had an injury just shortly before so Olivia came in to play with Bella.

“They’ve all trained together this summer, so they know each other quite wel and it turned out to be just a great match-up.”

Bermuda’s volleyball teams are starting to consistently win medals at Eastern Caribbean level and McPeek feels the victory is vindication of the programme.

“We’re really working on developing a pipeline and feeding up to our national team,” McPeek said.

“These girls have several years to keep competing in this and they will stagger the age group and those all tie into eligibilty for the Junior Pan American Games, so hopefully we will get to see our athletes shine on even bigger stages.”