Beach Update: Fort Lauderdale roster

TORRANCE, Calif. – The U.S. beach volleyball teams heading for the FIVB World Tour season opener in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are prepped and ready for the event that will take place Feb. 7-12.

The season opener FIVB World Tour stop, part of the Swatch Major Series, is a five-star event in the new FIVB tournament ranking categorization. In 2017, there are five five-star tournaments, three four-star and 17 one to three star tournaments. This year will also feature the FIVB Beach World Championships as well as the annual World Tour Finals.

In Fort Lauderdale, 18 evening matches will be played under stadium lights. Sunday’s women’s final will be broadcast on NBC2 and RedBullTV will stream both finals on their platform as well.

Complete live streaming for the event as well as behind-the-scenes coverage will be available via the Swatch Major Series BeachStream.

Half of the field in the main draw are new partnerships, but the U.S. does return three teams that have extensive experience together. 2016 Olympic bronze medalists April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings (#1 seed), Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena (#3 seed), and John Hyden and Tri Bourne (#10 seed).

The FIVB recently updated its sport regulations to allow the Host Country to register six teams, excluding the wild cards, at three to five star tournaments. Previously the wild cards were included in the six team maximum. With the update, a Host Country may have up to eight teams total in the tournament, which includes teams from wild cards and the reserve list.

*Ryan Doherty will play in place of Tri Bourne for this event