U.S. Beach Teams to Compete in Alanya, Turkey

Erin Campbell
Intern, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6864
E-Mail: erin.campbell@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 15, 2010) – Four under-23 and under-26  U.S. beach volleyball teams will compete in the World University Championships this week in Alanya, Turkey.

The teams will participate in the opening ceremonies on June 15, with competition starting on June 16. The finals will be on June 20.

The team’s head coach, Anna Collier, and is excited about the group that will compete in Alanya.

“The players were chosen for their skills, passing, setting, digging and serving, as seen on a tryout basis at local and national beaches,” Collier said. “Along with these skills, their overall athleticism was another very important factor as beach players need to be very athletic to be successful in the game… We also took into consideration their competiveness as we observed them in competitive drills.”

The two men’s teams scheduled to play are Tony Ciarelli (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and partner Maddison McKibbin (Honolulu, Hawaii) along with Stafford Slick (Andover, Minn.) and Mark Van Zwieten (Pompano Beach, Fla.).

Ciarelli, a standout indoor player at USC, was a member of the 2009 U.S. Men’s Junior National Team that finished eighth at the FIVB World Championship in India. His long and impressive resume also includes being named to the AVCA Freshman All-American second team and Volleyball Magazine’s Freshman of the Year in 2009. His beach experience includes being a runner-up at the FIVB Junior (U-19) Beach World Championships and working with the U.S. Training Team for the 2008 FIVB Junior (U-21) Beach World Championships.

Ciarelli is excited to play next to McKibbin.

“Maddison and I have known each other since we were 12 and 13,” Ciarelli said. “I’ve played with him a number of times over the years and we both go to USC. When I was in Hawaii, I’d go down to the Outrigger Canoe club and play [beach] with him and his brother.”

After the teams were announced, Ciarelli and McKibbin entered the AVP Nivea Tour Huntington Beach Open and finished 33^rd. The pair entered to get a taste of what to expect in Alanya.

“The biggest thing we learned is that we cannot get frustrated,” Tony said. “We are a lot younger than most teams by at least five years. The experiences they’ve had, they might not get a point on serves often, but they side-out every single time. We cannot be frustrated with the last point on the last play.”

The two U.S. women’s teams competing in Turkey are Caitlin Ledoux (Phelan, Calif.) and Jazmin Machado (Encinitas, Calif.) along with Emily Day (Torrance, Calif.) and Michelle Moriarty (Houston, Texas). 

Day, who started playing regularly on the AVP Tour in 2009, finished 17^th at Huntington with partner Claire D’Amore. She made it a point to take advantage of the playing experience and the overall environment.

“The AVP tour is filled with such high-level players,” Day said. “The top players in our country play on our tour and they are some of the top players in the world. We have multiple Olympians playing with and against us every weekend. It’s amazing to play and train against these people with so much experience; plus you can sit down and talk with them and pick their brain.

Even though Day does not know much about the competition she and Moriarty will be facing in Alanya, she acknowledges that it will be some elite beach volleyball.

“I know that these are some of the top players of their countries in the age groups so they have to be good,” Day said. “When you compete against new teams you must always respect them and be ready to play at your highest level.”

After many weeks of training, Collier said, the teams are ready to compete against other pairs from across the globe.

“I expect these players to play at a very high level and be very competitive with all of the countries competing in the World University Games,” Collier said. “With that said and done by the players, we have a very good opportunity to come home with a couple of medals.”

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Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, Tony Ciarelli, World University Championship