Beach Update: Action Packed Week Sees Medals Earned, Legends Retire

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 14, 2024) – The U.S. won three medals in two different international beach volleyball events last week, and two beach volleyball icons said goodbye at the AVP League Final.  This week, U.S. athletes are in competition at BPT Challenge Haikou.

NORCECA San Salvador

Jade Race and Devanne Sours earned gold for the U.S. women and Ryan Ierna and Diego Perez earned silver for the U.S. men at NORCECA San Salvador.

Race/Sours reached the final with a perfect pool play record and then a win in the quarterfinals over Daniel Vigil and Karla Tovar (ESA) 2-0 (21-13, 21-11) and in the semifinals over Socorro Lopez and Valeska Hernandez (NCA) 2-0 (21-14, 21-14). The U.S. women met Dana Roskic and Anna Licht (CAN) in the final, sealing the gold medal on an injury forfeit for Roskic/Licht.

Jessica McGuire and Ella Gray were also representing the U.S. women in San Salvador. After an exit from the elimination bracket in the quarterfinals, McGuire/Gray rebounded for a fifth-place finish with a win over Danna Aguilar/Paola Alvarado (GUA) 2-0 (21-12, 21-12).

Ierna/Perez ended pool at 2-1 and won their first two elimination matches vs. Yoel Guardado and Christopher Guardado (ESA) 2-1 (18-21, 21-18, 15-9) in the quarterfinals and vs. Ruben Mora and Dany Lopez (NCA) 2-0 (21-19, 28-26) in the semifinals.  Ierna/Perez lost in the final to MacNeil/Chambers (CAN) 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) but secured another podium finish for the U.S.

Zephyr Dew and Cash Adamsen fell to the eventual champions in the quarterfinals, but rallied to finish fifth with a win over Guardado/Guardado.

Elite 16 Rio

Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft made it three straight medals on the Beach Pro Tour circuit with a second-place finish at Elite 16 Rio.

Cannon/Kraft earned the silver medal after flawless pool slate and survived an early test against Taina Lima and Andressa Talita (BRA) in the quarterfinals that went three sets.

They defeated Sandra Ittlinger and Kim Van de Velde (GER) 2-0 (21-14, 21-16) in the semis, which put them in the final vs. Carol Solberg and Barbara Seixas (BRA). Cannon/Kraft  settled for silver on a 2-0 loss (21-17, 21-16).

Cannon/Kraft began their FIVB medal streak with another silver back at Elite 16 Gstaad and then followed it up with bronze at Elite 16 Vienna. Their last gold together was at the 2023 NORCECA Beach Final.

BPT Final Roster Announced

Cannon/Kraft will have their next opportunity to keep the streak alive on one of the biggest stages the Beach Pro Tour has to offer. The list of competing teams for the 2024 Beach Pro Tour Final was announced earlier this week, with Cannon/Kraft joining teammates and 2024 Paris Olympians, Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss.

“I’m really proud of our silver medal and how we played in Rio,” Cannon said. “It was such a cool experience to play in such an iconic place, and the fact that it helped us qualify for World Tour Finals was the cherry on top! Meg is so fun to play with and I feel like we’re getting a little better at every tournament, so we’re excited to compete one last time this year in Doha.”

Even with a hiatus from FIVB events due to the Olympics and the AVP League, Kloth/Nuss rattled off their own three-medal streak before departing for Paris with back-to-back gold medals at Elite 16 Gstaad and Elite 16 Espino, as well as a silver at Elite 16 Brasilia. Team TKN won the 2023 Beach Pro Tour Finals with a 2-0 victory over Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillmann (GER) (21-17, 21-14).

The 2024 Finals in Doha, Qatar, start Dec. 7. The U.S. will not have any competing athletes on the men’s side. Full list of competing teams.

Challenge Haikou

BPT Challenge Haikou is currently underway with competition running Nov. 14-17. The U.S. has five pairs on both the men’s and women’s side competing.

For the men, Chaim Schalk and James Shaw, Tim Brewster and Theo Brunner, Hagen Smith and Logan Webber, Wyatt Harrison and Jake Urrutia, and Evan Cory and Cody Caldwell are the representing pairs.

For the women, competing pairs are Molly Shaw and Toni Rodriguez, Alaina Chacon and Molly Phillips, Brook Bauer and Maddie Anderson, Delaney Peranich and Kaeli Crews, and Hailey Harward and Kylie Deberg.

Challenge Haikou is the first of three BPT Challenge events in Asia that will be held consecutively throughout the rest of November with most of the same U.S. teams competing at each event. Challenge Chennai (India) follows Haikou Nov. 21-24. Challenge Nuvali (Philippines) is soon after running Nov. 28-Dec. 1.

AVP League/April and Alix Retire

Miles Evans, Chase Budinger, Toni Rodriguez and Geena Urango (San Diego Smash) are the 2024 AVP League Champions.

The first-ever AVP League tour concluded with the AVP League Final at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles on Sunday Nov. 10. The Smash defeated the Dallas Dream (Andy Benesh, Miles Partain, Hailey Harward, Kylie Deberg) by going to a “golden set” where both pairs play to to determine the winner.

In the final, the women took the court first, with Rodriguez and Urango securing an 8-5 lead and setting up Budinger and Evans to claim a 15-13 victory and seal the championship.

In addition to the on-court competition, a retirement tribute was held for iconic beach volleyball duo April Ross and Alix Klineman. The Tokyo 2020 gold medalists affectionately known as the “A-Team” reunited for a farewell tour in the league’s first year and separately announced their retirements prior to the final.

“I feel like I was able to do what I wanted to in this sport and so I have no regrets,” Ross said. “It was honestly a dream come true to do this for so long and be as successful as I was. I’m very proud of how many international medals I was able to win. I won a lot of them with Jen Kessy, a lot with Kerri Walsh [Jennings] and a lot with Alix [Klineman]. It’s hard week in and week out to show up and perform as well as you need to get on the podium, and I feel like with all my partners we were able to do that pretty consistently.”

Ross and Klineman’s Miami Mayhem secured third place at the final by upsetting the league-leading New York Nitro (Kelly Cheng, Sara Hughes, Taylor Crabb, Taylor Sander), also in a golden set.

TKN 4th Annual Santa in the Sand

After they return from Doha, Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss will host their fourth annual Santa in the Sand charity event.

In collaboration with the City of Kenner, Louisiana, Kloth and Nuss host a beach volleyball “extravaganza” with games, live and silent auctions, music and entertainment to raise resources to provide Christmas presents and financial support to 10 select families in need. The fourth edition of the event will be held Saturday, Dec. 14, at Coconut Beach in Kenner, Louisiana.

The Santa in the Sand event is part of Kloth and Nuss’s 656 Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit. More information is available on their website.