U.S. Men Advance to Main Draw at Junior Worlds

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 15, 2010) – The U.S. men’s beach volleyball team of Jeff Carlson and Connor Hughes made history by qualifying for the main draw at the 2010 SWATCH FIVB Junior (Under-21) World Championships in Alanya, Turkey.

Carlson and Hughes, who comprise the USA-2 men’s team, won two qualifying matches on Wednesday to advance. It is the first time the United States has had a team advance from qualifying at the beach volleyball Junior World Championships.

Meanwhile, the USA-2 women’s team of Chelsea Rashoff (Danville, Calif.) and Courtney Trevino (Austin, Texas) lost their first-round qualifying match and will not continue in the tournament.

Carlson and Hughes, seeded sixth in the qualifying bracket, had a bye in the first round and defeated 11th-ranked David Lenc and Jiri Pribyl of Czech Republic, 2-1 (21-8, 17-21, 15-4) in 45 minutes.

In the third round, Carlson and Hughes beat Germany’s third-seeded Finn Dittelbach and Steffen Drößler, 27-25, 21-17 in 50 minutes.

Carlson and Hughes will begin main draw pool play on Thursday along with the men’s USA-1 team of Tony Ciarelli (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Evan Barry (San Diego, Calif.).

Ciarelli and Barry are ranked 10th and will open in Pool I on Thursday against France’s 15th-seeded Marc Vautier and Damien Vergnes. Pool play will continue on Friday with matches against third-ranked Marek Leznicki and Michal Makowski of Poland and 22nd-ranked Youhen Vishneuski and Aliaksandr Dzladkou of Belarus.

Carlson and Hughes are ranked 24th and will begin play in Pool G on Thursday against Turkey’s top-seeded Candan Ali and Tayga Baltacioglu. On Friday, Carlson and Hughes will play Norway’s 12th-ranked Svein Solhaug and Jonas Tomter along with 13th-seeded Helmut Moser and Robert Seidl of Austria.

In the women’s qualifying bracket, Rashoff and Trevino, seeded third, received a bye in the first round, but fell to New Zealand’s 14th-seeded Jessie Muggeridge and Lydia McCormack, 21-16, 21-16 in 44 minutes. They finish the tournament tied for 29th.

Women’s main draw pool play will begin Thursday. The USA-1 team of Summer Ross (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Tara Roenicke (Alta Loma, Calif.) are seeded fourth and are in Pool D.

They will play two pool play matches on Thursday, facing 21st-ranked Martina Bonnerova and Barbora Hermannova of Czech Republic and 16th-seeded Maria Corral and Paula Soria of Spain.

On Friday, the U.S. pair will play Poland’s Beata Galek and Kinga Kolosinka, seeded ninth.

For more information on the men’s bracket of the SWATCH FIVB Beach Junior World Championships, click here.

For more information on the women’s bracket of the SWATCH FIVB Beach Junior World Championships, click here.

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB beach, FIVB World Championship, junior, Summer Ross, Tony Ciarelli