Beach Teams Selected for World University Games

Becky Murdy
Assistant, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: becky.murdy@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 13, 2011) - USA Volleyball is pleased to announce the Beach Volleyball players who will represent the United States at the 2011 FISU World University Games held Aug. 13-18 in Shenzhen, China.

Two men’s and two women’s senior A2 teams were selected to compete in the tournament. On the men’s side, the team of Connor Hughes (Costa Mesa, Calif./UC Irvine) and Maddison McKibbin (Honolulu, Hawaii/USC) will join the team of Tony Ciarelli (Huntington Beach, Calif./USC) and Jeff Carlson (Newport Beach, Calif./USC) in representing the United States.

Geena Urango (Los Alamitos, Calif./USC) and Jane Chefeh (Fontana, Calif./Cal State San Bernardino) will pair up as well as Emily Day (Torrance, Calif./Loyola Marymount) and Heather Hughes (Fallbrook, Calif./Loyola Marymount) forming the U.S. women’s teams.

Will Montgomery (Santa Barbara, Calif./UC Irvine) and Ashley Lee (La Habra Heights, Calif./Long Beach State) will serve as the U.S. men’s and women’s first alternates, respectively.

McKibbin and his previous partner, Ciarelli, played as partners in the 2010 World University Championships, where they finished 13th.

“For Maddison, Tony and Emily, I think that having the benefit of seeing the competition last year (at the World University Championships) is really going to help them understand the level of the competition and to be better prepared,” said Ali Wood Lamberson, USAV director of international and high performance beach programs.

Three of the four men’s team members come from the University of Southern California with Hughes joining from UC Irvine. Ciarelli, a recent USC graduate, finished fifth at the 2010 FIVB Beach Junior (U-21) World Championships. He and his current partner, Carlson, a senior at USC, captured the silver medal at the FIVB Beach Youth (U-19) World Championships in 2008. Ciarelli has clocked indoor time for the United States starting as the outside hitter for the 2009 Men’s Junior National Team in Pune, India. Ciarelli and Carlson competed as a team during the 2010 AVP Tour before its dissolve later in the year.

Hughes, a junior at UC Irvine, finished fifth at the 2010 FIVB Swatch Junior (U-21) World Championships with Carlson. McKibbin, a senior at USC, also placed fifth at the 2008 FIVB Youth (Under-19) Beach World Championships and won the 2005 AAU Boys National Beach Volleyball U-15 Championships.

On the women’s side, Day and Hughes, both Loyola Marymount graduates, recently won the USA Volleyball international development qualified (IDQ) in June at Playa del Rey, Calif. The pair also recorded a fourth-place finish at the 2011 FIVB Seoul Challenger Beach Volleyball Tournament in Korea.

Day captured the gold medal at the 2009 NORCECA Women’s Continual Circuit event at Barbicon Park in Kingston, Jamaica with former partner Claire Robertson (Torrance, Calif.). She also finished fifth at a 2010 NORCECA event in Dominican Republic with partner Angela McHenry.

Urango, the fourth player on the Beach National Team roster to represent the USC Trojans, recorded time competing on the Girls’ Youth National for two years (2005-06) before joining the Women’s Junior National Team where the team took gold at the 2006 NORCECA Continental Championships in Monterrey, Mexico. Partner, Chafeh of Cal State San Bernardino was named Best of Beach at the 2011 CBS Sports Alt Games Collegiate Beach Championships in San Diego, Calif. Chafeh is the only player representing an NCAA Division II school on the roster. 

“For Gina and Jane, they’ve been training hard with us for three years and this is first international competition,” Lamberson said. “For them, this is about getting international experience and seeing how they stack up.”

The senior A2 teams will attend the FISU World University Games on Aug. 13-18 in Shenzhen, China. Athletes must be either current or recently graduated college students to be eligible for these teams.

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