USAV Beach Junior Tour Moves into the Midwest

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 14, 2010) – The USAV Beach Junior Tour hosted two events in the Midwest over the weekend. Milwaukee, Wis., was home to the Central Open on June 12 and included five girls’ brackets (under-12, U14, U16, U18 and U20) and four boys’ brackets (U12, U16, U18 and U20). The second event was the Great Plains Open on June 12-13 in Omaha, Neb., which had three girls’ brackets (U12, U14 and U16).

In Milwaukee, the overcast skies and cool 60-degree weather added more to the already difficult playing environments of the sand and wind.

Erin Slinde (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) and Sheridan Salisbury (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) took home the girls’ U12 title. Emma Hallman (Oak Creek, Wis.) and Annie Rassmussen (Oak Creek, Wis.) took second and finishing in third was Maddie Kohne (Bayside, Wis.) and Erin Heidenrich (Bayside, Wis.).

The girls’ U14 champions were Lizzie Mahie (West Allis, Wis.) and Katie Machi (West Allis, Wis.). Taking second was Kaycie Hagen (Savage, Minn.) and partner Gabrielle Salisbury (Chatfield, Minn.) while Kylie Willis (Union Grove, Wis.) and Danielle Stachura (Union Grove, Wis.) finished third.

Pacing the girls’ U16 division was Shawn Hostos (Milwaukee, Wis.) and Olivia Surita (Hales Corners, Wis.). Coming in at second place was Allison Roth (Black Earth, Wis.) and Victoria Ili (Madison, Wis.) while third place went to Brittney Dart (Nashotah, Wis.) and Elizabeth Gall (Oconomowoc, Wis.).

The girls’ U18 title went to Abbey Reichertz (Waukesha, Wis.) and Katie Umhoefer (Pewaukee, Wis.).

Winning the girls’ U20 division was Melissa Hastings (Pewaukee, Wis.) and Samantha Derynda (Pewaukee, Wis.). Christie Graf (Waukesha, Wis.) and Ashley Reynolds (Mequon, Wis.) finished in second.

On the boys’ side of the tournament, Joseph Heyrman (Sussex, Wis.) and Jake Vecitis (Wind Lake, Wis.) won the U12 division.

Taking home the title of champion of the boys’ U16 division was Aleks Glass (Chicago, Ill.) and partner Jonas Placitis (Chicago, Ill.) while Zachery Gesteland (Burlington, Wis.) and Evan Repavich (Franklin, Wis.) finished second. Jake Wierzbinski (Mukwonago, Wis.) and Tyler Wittlift (Mukwonago, Wis.) came in third.

Ryan Loughlin (Naperville, Ill.) and Spencer Sauter (Woodbridge, Ill.) won the boys’ U18 division and Michael Adams (Webster Grove, Miss.) and Robert Boldog (Palatine, Ill.) won the boys’ U20 division.

At the Great Plains Open, overnight rains Friday and Saturday attempted to halt the event but good drainage systems allowed play to continue. Saturday afternoon brought some sunshine but the clouds returned Sunday and there was a slight drizzle during the tournament’s lunch hour.

Halie McArdle (Gretna, Neb.) and Elena Melendez (Omaha, Neb.) won the girls’ U12 division after defeating Raegan LaGrand (Papillion, Neb.) and Kelsey Beaudin (Papillion, Neb.), 15-11, 15-7. Sarah Kneifl (Papillion, Neb.) and Callie Alberco (Papillion, Neb.) placed third due to the 15-7, 15-7 loss to LaGrand and Beaudin.

Kamesha Young (Omaha, Neb.) and Tahlyr Banks (Omaha, Neb.) were champions of the girls’ U14 division after the single-set win 21-6 over Marissa O’Grady (Blair, Neb.) and Anna Hookham (Omaha, Neb.). Sarah Christianson (Bennington, Neb.) and Natalie Mickelson (Gretna, Neb.) finished third after losing to O’Grady and Hookham, 21-17.

Young not only took the title in the U14 division, she also won the girls’ U16 division with partner Emily Leichner (Omaha, Neb.). The pair defeated Molly Shutte (Hastings, Neb.) and Kaitlyn Ernst (Ayr, Neb.), 15-11, 15-3. LaGrand and partner Kneifly took home third place after defeating Gabriella Smith (Omaha, Neb.) and Megan McQuillan (Omaha, Neb.), 15-8, 15-9.

For more information on the USAV Beach Junior Tour, click here.

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, USA Beach Junior Tour