U.S. Beach Team Finishes Fifth at Exhibition

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 1, 2009) – The U.S. beach volleyball team of of Keao Burdine (Pico Rivera, Calif.) and Jenelle Koester (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) finished tied for fifth at an FIVB International Women’s Beach Volleyball Exhibition on Nov. 26-29 in Xiaolan, China.

Burdine and Koester, who finished third at USA Volleyball’s International Development Qualifier in June in Long Beach, Calif., finished second in their pool of three teams. They defeated China’s C.N. Zhang and A. Hu, 21-16, 21-7 in 35 minutes. But, despite putting up a fight, they fell to the Japanese team of Mutsumi Ozaki and Ayumi Kusano, 21-18, 22-24, 15-10 in 50 minutes.

In their first-round match, Burdine and Koester fell to China’s Jin Jieqiong and Zhang Xi, the eventual tournament winners, 14-21, 10-21 in 32 minutes.

Burdine and Koester won $2,000.

Tags: beach volleyball, FIVB beach