Beach Notes: U.S. Teams to Compete in Puerto Vallarta

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 14, 2010) – Three U.S. teams will compete this weekend at the NORECA Beach Volleyball Circuit event in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, the final event of the 2010 NORCECA Circuit.

On the men’s side, Marcin Jagoda (Tarzana, Calif.) and Mike Diehl (Huntington Beach, Calif.) are scheduled to compete along with John Wankner (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Kevin Lynch (Venice, Calif.).

Jagoda and partner Stafford Slick (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) finished third in May in the NORCECA Beach Circuit event in Chiapas, Mexico. Lynch has also competed on the Circuit before, but never medaled.

In the women’s event Cayley Thurlby (Naperville, Ill.) and Kim McGiven DiCello (San Diego, Calif.) will represent the United States.

Thurlby and partner Tealle Hunkus (Girard, Ohio) finished fourth in April at the NORCECA Beach Circuit event in the Dominican Republic.

The competition in Mexico will begin Friday (Oct. 15) and conclude on Sunday (Oct. 17).

Some matches will be shown live online at www.guadalajara2011.org.mx.

FIVB Challenger

The United States won two bronze medals at the FIVB beach volleyball challenger event on Sept. 27-Oct. 2 in Chennai, India.

The U.S. women’s team of Ashley Ivy (Arlington, Texas) and Lisa Rutledge (Vista, Calif.) and the U.S. men’s team of Eyal Zimit (Kibbutz Ein Hamifratz, Israel) and Mike Morrison (Encinitas, Calif.) won bronze medals at the event, which helps teams gain ranking points for the SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

The U.S. women’s team of Heather Hughes (Fallbrook, Calif.) and Michelle Moriarty (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) finished the event tied for seventh after having to qualify to compete in the main draw.

Ivy and Rutledge, the event’s second-ranked team, had to battle to reach the semifinals in Chunnai after losing their second-round match to Kazakhstan’s 18th-seeded Tatyana Mashkova and Irina Tsimbalova, 2-1 (21-16, 18-21, 15-10) in 47 minutes.

Ivy and Rutledge defeated teams from Mauritius, Ukraine, Norway and Italy to reach the final round of consolation for a rematch with Mashkova and Tsimbalova, which the U.S. team won, 2-1 (18-21, 21-14, 15-6) in 50 minutes.

In the semifinals, Ivy and Rutledge fell to Germany’s fifth-seeded Stefanie Hüttermann and Anni Schumacher, 2-0 (21-16, 21-13) in 35 minutes. In the third-place match, Ivy and Rutledge defeated Brazil’s 24th-ranked Júlia Beatriz Schmidt and Fabiane Aires Boogaerdt, 21-16, 21-19 in 45 minutes.

Morrison and Zimet, ranked 18th, won matches over higher-ranked teams from Belarus (No. 15), Germany (No. 2 and No. 7) and Turkey (No. 11) before falling in the semifinals to Russia’s 16th-seeded Alexander Likholetov and Evgeniy Romashkin, 2-1 (21-16, 15-21, 15-13) in 54 minutes.

Morrison and Zimet defeated Turkey’s 20th-ranked Murat Giginoglu and Hakan Gögtepe, 21-16, 21-18 in 42 minutes in the bronze medal match.

Hughes and Moriarty defeated teams from Thailand and Spain, both in straight sets, to advance to the main draw, where they were ranked 23rd. They won their first two matches against higher-ranked teams from India (No. 10) and Ukraine (No. 7) before losing in the third round to Mashkova and Tsimbalova.

They came back to win their first consolation match over Canada’s 13th-seeded Julie Rodrigue and Katherine Zakrzewski, 22-20, 21-18 in 44 minutes. But their tournament ended with a loss to the top-ranked team from Belarus, Liesbeth Mouha and Goedele Van Cauteren, 21-15, 21-15 in 36 minutes.

Tags: Ashley Ivy, Beach, Beach Volleyball, FIVB beach