Youth Beach Teams Earn Wins at Worlds

Bill Kauffman
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 20, 2009) – The two remaining USA beach teams competing in the Eighth Annual Youth SWATCH-FIVB World Championships (U-19) picked up at least one victory each during pool competition on Thursday at Alanya, Turkey.

Jane Croson (Lakewood, Calif.) and Summer Ross (Carlsbad, Calif.), seeded fourth in the girls’ youth main draw, defeated Czech Republic’s Stepanka Stastna and Lenka Grygarova 21-16, 21-14 in 38 minutes to open the tournament in Pool D. Croson and Ross continue pool action on Friday with matches against France’s Tiphaine Le Guiader and Annie-Sophie Bauer and Poland’s Daria Paszek and Renata Bekier. The duo from Poland topped the French tandem 21-5, 21-19 in the other Pool D match played on Thursday. Croson and Ross competed together at the 2008 FIVB Junior World Championship as the youngest team ever to compete at the Junior Worlds.

Parker Kalmbach (Coto De Caza, Calif.) and Kyle Stevenson (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.), seeded second in the boys’ youth main draw, dropped a 21-14, 21-16 opening match in Pool H to Germany’s Philipp Bergmann and Benjamin Dollhofer. Kalmbach and Stevenson bounced back to even its record with an 11-21, 21-19, 15-13 victory over Latvia’s Andis Cimoska and Martins Jansons. Kalmbach and Stevenson conclude Pool H on Friday at 11:45 a.m. local time against New Zealand’s Johann Timmer and Ryan Grubb, who won both of their opening round pool matches in three sets on Thursday.

The 24-team main draw, divided into six pools of four for each gender, continues through Friday, followed by two days of single-elimination bracket play (Round of 16 and quarterfinals) on Saturday and Sunday. The medal matches for both genders will be played on Aug. 23.

The 2009 Youth U-19 gold medal team will be awarded a “wild card” by the FIVB for a future SWATCH FIVB World Tour event during the final months of the 2009 or in 2010.

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB beach, FIVB World Championship, SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championships