Bethania Almánzar Sosa (born February 11, 1987, in

Bonao Bonao is a city in the Cibao region of Dominican Republic. It is the capital of the Monseñor Nouel province. The city is located in the center of the country, to the northwest of the national capital Santo Domingo. The city is known as "Villa ...

) is a female

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player from the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

. She twice won the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit 2007, partnering Margarita Suero. She played the

2023 Beach Volleyball World Championships The 2023 Beach Volleyball World Championships was held in Tlaxcala, Apizaco, and Huamantla, Mexico from 6 to 15 October 2023. Competition schedule Medal summary Medal table Medal events Men's tournament Knockout stage bracket Women's ...

and won the silver medal in the

2023 Central American and Caribbean Games The 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games (Spanish language, Spanish: Juegos Deportivos Centroamericanos y del Caribe San Salvador 2023), also known as the 24th Central American and Caribbean Games and commonly known as San Salvador 2023, wa ...

playing with Julibeth Payano.

Career

Almánzar played with the club Los Prados from 2004 to 2006, winning the 2005 Dominican Metropolitan League with this club. She trained in 2005 with the senior national indoor team in 2005, since the team split under the guidance of the Cuban trainer Ismael Ortega just before the 2006 FIVB World Championship qualification. Almánzar won the silver medal during the 2006 National Games, playing with the North Region. She twice won the silver medal in the women's competition at the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit 2007 in

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

and

Carolina, Puerto Rico Carolina (; ) is a Carolina barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northeastern coastal plain of Puerto Rico, immediately east of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan and Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, Trujillo Alto, n ...

, partnering Margarita Suero. Playing with Daniela Rosario, she won the Dominican Republic National Beach Volleyball Tour in 2008. In

Indoor volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

, she won the bronze medal in 2007 and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

at the

Dominican Republic Volleyball League The Dominican Republic Volleyball League ( LIDOVOLI) is a professional volleyball league in Dominican Republic. The competitions are organized by the Dominican Republic Volleyball Confederation (Confederación Dominicana de Voleibol). Men's Leag ...

playing with

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. She won the 2008 Bonao Athlete of the Year award for her performance during 2008, and she was also contending for her province to the "Premio Nacional de la Juventud", for Sport Achievements. Almánzar participated during the 2009

Holy Week Holy Week () commemorates the seven days leading up to Easter. It begins with the commemoration of Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, marks the betrayal of Jesus on Spy Wednesday (Holy Wednes ...

Sport Festival held in Hato Mayor, playing

Beach Volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

(three) with

Dahiana Burgos Rossy Dahiana Burgos Herrera (born April 7, 1985 in Santo Domingo) is a volleyball and beach volleyball player from the Dominican Republic. She won the bronze medal with the women's national team at the 2005 Pan American Cup in Santo Domingo, Do ...

and

Karla Echenique Karla Miguelina Echenique Medina (born 16 May 1986 in Santo Domingo) is a volleyball player from the Dominican Republic, who played as a setter for the Women's National Team at the 2008 Olympic Qualification Tournament in Japan, but did not qu ...

, winning the Silver Medal of the event. She was enlisted for the national beach volleyball team under the guidance of the Cuban coach Carlos Suarez training for the

2010 Central American and Caribbean Games The 21st Central American and Caribbean Games (Spanish: ''XXI Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe, Mayagüez 2010'') took place in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, from 18 July 2010 to 1 August 2010. Bid It was understood that Mayagüez was going to b ...

. She played indoor volleyball with the Dominican Republic National team that won the silver medal at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean University Games. She played the 2011 Santiago Intermunicipal Tournament with Navarrete, leading them to win the preliminary round with a 6–0 mark. She won the 2014 Hato Mayor Volleyball tournament gold medal with Darielis Ravelo and Soranyi Aquino. Almánzar played with the club Manoguayabo in the 2015 Santo Domingo volleyball tournament. In August 2016 she traveled to New York with the BanReservas team to play the Bameso USA International tournament, winning the first place. Almánzar played with Iris Santos and Anahí Lebrón the 2017 Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball Tournament, where they were beaten by

Ana Esther Lara Ana Esther Lara (born ) is a retired Dominican Republic female volleyball player. She was part of the Dominican Republic women's national volleyball team. She participated in the 2006 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix. On club level she played for ...

Juana González Juana Miguelina González Sánchez (born January 3, 1979, in Laguna Salada, Valverde) is a volleyball and basketball player from the Dominican Republic. She competed for her native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, wearing t ...

and

, settling with the tournaments silver medal. She later joined the Bonao club in the 2017 North Central ligue championship, were her team claime the bronze medal and she later won the X Bonao Reinforced Volleyball tournament with Plamed. Playing with Esmeralda Ramírez and Pamela Suárez she won the Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball Tournament, representing INAPA. With the Banreservas team, he won undefeated the IX Bameso USA International Tournament, held in the

Riverbank State Park Riverbank State Park is a state park built on top of a sewage treatment facility on the Hudson River, in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It was opened in 1993. On September 5, 2017, it was renamed Denny Farrell ...

in New York City. She played with the INAPA indoor team, winning in their 57th anniversary tournament. She was awarded Best Scorer and Most Valuable Player. Almánzar won the XLV Santiago Intermunicipal Volleyball Tournament championship and the Best Spiker individual award, playing with Cienfuegos. She won the silver medal and the Best Spiker award, playing with Bonao in the Cibao Cup. She won the silver medal in the 2020 National Championship, when her club, Santiago lost 1-3 the final match to National District. Almánzar helped Los Mina to win the Santo Domingo Superior Tournament, she was elected Most Valuable Player. She then helped Bonao to win the 2021 version of the Cibao Cup. Later Almanzar played with Caribeñas-New Horizons VC at the Dominican Republic Superior Volleyball League from the National District, she ended up winning the tournament second place when her team was defeated 0–3 in the final series by Cristo Rey.

2022

She won the Villa Tapia Beach Tournament, playing as the Banreservas team with Maite Camacho and Esmeralda Ramírez and the first stage of the 2022 National Beach Volleyball Circuit played in Macao, La Altagracia partnering with Esmeralda Ramírez. She then won the indoor National Superior Volleyball Tournament with Bonao and was elected Most Valuable Player. In October, Almanzar returned to the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour, winning the fifth place with Esmeralda Ramírez playing in Punta Cana and a fourth place in Hato Mayor, also with Ramírez, before ranking fourth in Cayman Islands and sixth at the Continental Tour Final, held in Punta Cana, both of them with Crismil Paniagua.

2023

With Crismil Paniagua, Almanzar played the Grand Cayman stage of the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Tour, ranking 13th. She won the 2023 Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball tournament silver medal, playing with Michel Cruz and Génesis Durán. She ranked fourth after falling 0-2 to the Canadian pair in the World Championship Qualifier stage held in Punta Cana, this time playing with Julibeth Payano. Playing with Payano, she won the

competition at the

silver medal, losing 1-2 to the Puerto Rican team. They later commented that they got along very well throughout the tournament despite only having been playing together for a month. They played together the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

held in Tlaxcala, Mexico where they finished without victories in the group stage, after losing their three games 0-2 against Australians

Mariafe Artacho del Solar Mariafe Artacho del Solar (born 24 October 1993) is an Australian beach volleyball player. She represented Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021. Artacho del Solar plays as a righ ...

and

Taliqua Clancy Taliqua Clancy (born 25 June 1992) is an Australian volleyball and beach volleyball player who represented Australia at the 2016 Summer Olympics in beach volleyball, partnered with Louise Bawden. She is the first Indigenous Australian volleybal ...

, Polish Jagoda Gruszczyńska and Aleksandra Wachowicz and Spaniards

Liliana Fernández Liliana Fernández Steiner (born 4 January 1987) is a Spanish beach volleyball player. As of 2012, she plays with Elsa Baquerizo. The pair participated in the Beach volleyball at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament, 2012 Summer Olymp ...

and Paula Soria Gutiérrez, Then represented her home country in the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

finishing in ninth position with three wins and three losses.

2024

She won the 2024 Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball tournament gold medal, this time playing with Burgos and Paola Pérez. She played indoor volleyball with her native team of Bonao at the Dominican Republic National Champions Cup, helping her team to win the third place when her club lost to Distrito Nacional for the second place and she was awarded tournament's Best Spiker and Best Scorer.

Clubs

* Los Prados (2004–2006) * Boca Chica (2006) *

(2007–2008) * Bonao (2010) * Navarrete (2011) * Manoguayabo (2014-2015) * BanReservas (2016) * Bonao (2017) * Plamed (2017) * BanReservas (2019) * Inapa (2019) * Bonao (2019) * Santiago (2020) * Los Mina (2021) * Bonao (2021) * Caribeñas-New Horizons VC (2021) * Bonao (2022-2024)

Awards

Individual

* ''2008 Unión Deportiva Monseñor Nouel "Athlete of the Year"'' * ''2019 Santiago Intermunicipal Tournament "Best Spiker"'' * ''2019 Cibao Cup "Best Spiker"'' * ''2021 Santo Domingo Superior Tournament "Most Valuable Player"'' * ''2022 National Superior Volleyball Tournament "Most Valuable Player"'' * ''2024 National Champions Cup "Best Scorer"'' * ''2024 National Champions Cup "Best Spiker"''

Beach Vollebyall

* 2007 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit Guatemala Silver Medal * 2007 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit Puerto Rico Silver Medal * 2008 Dominican Republic National Beach Volleyball Tour Gold Medal * 2009 Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball Tournament Silver Medal * 2014 Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball Tournament Gold Medal * 2015 Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball Tournament Bronze Medal * 2016 Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball Tournament Silver Medal * 2017 Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball Tournament Silver Medal * 2019 Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball Tournament Gold Medal * 2023 Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball Tournament Silver Medal * 2024 Hato Mayor Beach Volleyball Tournament Gold Medal

Clubs

* 2005 Dominican Metropolitan League – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Los Prados * 2005 Santo Domingo Superior Tournament – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Boca Chica * 2007

– 3rd Place, with

* 2008

– 3rd Place, with Santiago * 2010

– 3rd Place, with Bonao * 2019 Santiago Intermunicipal Tournament – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Cienfuegos * 2019 Cibao Cup – 2nd Place, with Bonao * 2020 National Championship – 2nd Place, with Santiago * 2021 Santo Domingo Superior Tournament – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Los Mina * 2021 Cibao Cup – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Bonao * 2021 Dominican Republic Superior Volleyball League – 2nd Place, with Caribeñas-New Horizons * 2022 National Superior Volleyball Tournament – Simple cup icon

Champion, with Bonao * 2024 Dominican Republic National Champions Cup – 3rd Place, with Bonao

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Almanzar, Bethania 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Bonao Dominican Republic beach volleyball players Dominican Republic women's volleyball players Women's beach volleyball players Beach volleyball players at the 2023 Pan American Games Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for the Dominican Republic Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in beach volleyball 21st-century Dominican Republic sportswomen