Dykstra, Strehlow Qualify for Main Draw in Portugal

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 28, 2010) – The U.S. girls’ youth beach team of Lara Dykstra and Rebecca Strehlow went 2-0 in the qualification round of the 2010 FIVB Beach Youth (U-19) World Championships on Wednesday in Porto, Portugal. The pair is the first U.S. girls’ team to leave the qualification round for the main draw at a junior or youth world championship.

The women’s USA2 team of Dykstra (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) and Strehlow (Long Beach, Calif.) had a first round bye in the qualification round. They then faced Hazel Perrens and Ane Tveit Hjortland of Norway and won, 25-23, 13-21, 15-12 in 51 minutes.

The men’s USA2 team of Jace Olsen and David Vander Meer lost in the second round of qualification at the 2010 FIVB Beach Youth (U-19) World Championships in Porto, Portugal, Wednesday.

Olsen (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Vander Meer (Grand Rapids, Mich.), seeded fourth in qualification, were topped by Canada’s 13^th-seeded Aaron Nusbaum and Grant O’Gorman, 15-21, 21-23, in 41 minutes.

The main draw will begin on Thursday. Dykstra and Strehlow will continue on their quest for gold and will face top-seeded Mariana Alexandre and Joana Neto of Portugal at 9 a.m. (local time). They will then play China’s Changning Zhang and Fan Wang, seeded 12^th, and Austrialia’s 13^th-seeded team of Taliqua Clancy and Eliza Hynes.

The women’s USA1 team of Summer Ross (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Jane Croson (Lakewood, Calif.) will play Austria’s Katharina Schutzenhofer and Lena Plesiutschnig, seeded 22^nd, at 10 a.m. (local time) in the first round. The pair will then play the 15^th-seed, Giada Benazzi and Sara Lombardi of Italy, and finish pool play against the 10^th-seed, Tereza Vankova and Eliska Galova of Czech Republic.

The men’s USA1 team of Parker Kalmbach (Coto de Caza, Calif.) and Brandon Fuimaono (Long Beach, Calif.), seeded 17^th,  will open up against Canada’s 18^th-seeded Garrett May Nick Del Bianco at 2 p.m. (local time) and will finish their pool facing 19^th-seeded, Pavel Matejka and Petr Doubravsky of Czech Republic.

For more information on the 2010 FIVB Beach Youth (U-19) World Championships, click here.

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB World Championship, Jane Croson, Parker Kalmbach, Summer Ross, Youth World Championships