COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 18, 2018) – Can we call them the Book Bros.?
Pro beach volleyball players Ryan Doherty and Billy Allen now have something more in common than being partners on the sand. Each has now published a book.
Doherty, 34, went first, publishing Avatar’s Guide to Beach Volleyball: Everything you need to know about the sport from the only professional player that writes in 2015.
But it turns out Doherty is NOT the “only professional player the writes. Allen, 37, recently announced in a blog that he will be releasing a “fantasy action novel” called Good Blood (The Descendants of Terene, Book #1) in November.
So off the court, do they sit around and talk about writing?
“We just ignore each other and do our own writing,” Allen joked. “Our hotel room is pretty quiet.”
On the court, the pair is hoping that they might have the breakout tournament they have been looking for this weekend at the FIVB Las Vegas Open, presented by p1440. It is an FIVB four-star event and earns teams points toward Olympic qualifying.
Allen/Doherty went 1-1 in pool play on Thursday and will face Germany’s Philipp Bergmann/Yannick Harms in the first round on Friday.
“It’s been a long season,” Allen said. “We haven’t really had a breakthrough tournament yet, so we haven’t had a super high.”
“It’s a lot of top-10 finishes on the World Tour and a lot of top-five finishes on the AVP Tour,” Doherty added. “Which is not bad, but we want to see if we can make that push into being a higher caliber team.”
The team is ranked 47th in the world and sixth among U.S. men’s beach teams.
Allen and Doherty each comes from a very different background in the sport.
Allen grew up playing volleyball and was a setter at Cal State Northridge before switching to the beach. Away from the court, he does podcasts and funny videos. He also recently undertook a “Social Media Makeover,” in a tongue-in-cheek effort to increase his presence.
Doherty grew up playing baseball. He was a pitcher at Notre Dame and was signed by the Arizona Cardinals where, at 7-foot-1, he became the tallest player in minor league history. His height also earned him the nickname “Avatar.”
They are each also working on improving different aspects of their game.
Allen is working on serving while Doherty is trying to improve his blocking and transition setting.
“I’m trying to make sure if Billy gets the dig that he gets the chance to put the ball away,” Doherty said.
“I like to hit it in the net if the set’s bad at all,” Allen added with a laugh.
But the pair has writing in common and might even get around to reading each other’s work at some point.
“I’m super excited to read Billy’s book. I haven’t read a fiction book in forever,” Doherty said. “I’m like the first guy to pre-order it.”
“I’ve seen the cover of Ryan’s book,” Allen added, making Doherty crack up. “And I’ve heard good things.”
FIVB Las Vegas Open Presented by p1440
April Ross/Alix Klineman withdrew from the tournament due to injury
First Round of Pool Play
Men
Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb def Krou/Rowlandson (France), 2-1
Sorum/Mol (Norway) def Reid Priddy/Jeremy Casebeer, 2-0
Brouwer/Meeuwsen (Norway) def Chase Budinger/Sean Rosenthal, 2-0
Trevor Crabb/Tri Bourne def Seidl/Waller (Austria), 2-0
Ryan Doherty/Billy Allen def O’Gorman/Saxon (Canada), 2-1
Guto/Saymon (Brazil) def Casey Patterson/Stafford Slick, 2-0
Plavins/Toc (Latvia) def Bill Kolinske/Miles Evans, 2-1
Women
Summer Ross/Sarah Hughes def Lin/Zhu (China), 2-0
Betsi Flint/Emily Day def Liliana/Elsa (Spain), 2-1
Stubbe/Van Iersel (Netherlands) def Brooke Sweat/Kerri Walsh Jennings, 2-0
Emily Stockman/Kelley Larsen def Sinnema/Bloem (Netherlands), 2-1
Makroguzova/Kholomina (Russia) def Brittany Howard/Nicole Branagh, 2-0
Maria Clara/Elize Maia def Sarah Sponcil/Kelly Claes, 2-0
Men’s Second Round of Pool Play
Fualek/Bryl (Poland) def Doherty Allen, 2-0
Perusic/Schweiner (CZE) def Budinger/Rosenthal, 2-1
Basta/Kolaric (SRB) def Priddy/Casebeer, 2-0
Patterson/Slick def Abbiat/Andreatta (ITA), 2-1
Evans/Kolinske def Szalankiewicz/Rudol (POL), 2-1
Women’s Second Round of Pool Play (Friday)
9 a.m. S Ross/Hughes v Kravcenoka/Graudina (Latvia)
9 a.m. Stockman/Larsen v Josi/Lili (Brazil)
9 a.m. Flint/Day v Pavan/Humana-Paredes (Canada)
9:50 a.m. Sweat/Walsh Jennings v May/Picschke (Canada)
10:40 a.m. Howard/Branagh v Amaranta/Lobato (Spain)
11:30 a.m. Sponcil/Claes v Behlen/Tillmann (Germany)
Men’s First Round of Single Elimination (Friday)
11:30 a.m. Evans/Kolinske v Ahmed Tijan/Cherif (Qatar)
12:30 p.m. Doherty/Allen v Bermann/Harms (Germany)
1:30 p.m. Patterson/Slick v Ricardo/Alvaro Filho (Brazil)