COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – In the week ahead, beach volleyball athletes will play in China, Jamaica, and on the AVP Tour in Seattle. For USAV’s youth programming, the Junior Beach Tour continues its regular season ahead of next month’s Championships and High Performance closes out its final two zonal championships.
Professional athletes have three different tours to play on this week, with the domestic AVP Tour near Seattle, NORCECA Continental Tour in Ochos Rios, Jamaica, and the FIVB World Tour playing in Nantong, China.
Just last week the schedule began what will be a busy summer for beach volleyball, with the FIVB holding three tournaments in three different countries. In July, American professionals will have to choose from concurrent events the weekend of the 7-9th with FIVB Gstaad and AVP San Francisco. The weekend of 14-16, the FIVB is hosting an exhibition tournament in Long Beach, California, a women’s only in Korea and then there is a NORCECA tournament in Cuba. The busiest weekend of the year is July 21-23rd, consisting of three FIVB events and one AVP (the USAV Junior Beach Tour Championships are also this weekend).
With no shortage of tournaments in July, USAV fans can expect to see new names and more exposure to the partnerships that started in 2017.
| FIVB Nantong 2-Star Roster | ||||||
| Athletes | Entry | |||||
| Amanda Dowdy | Irene Pollock | Main Draw Wild Card | ||||
In China, Amanda Dowdy and Irene Pollock earned a main draw wild card, and are seeded at 17th to start. The two stayed in China following a ninth-place finish in Nanjing last week, which was their first FIVB tournament together.
| NORCECA Ochos Rios Roster | ||||||
| Athletes | Entry | |||||
| Jace Pardon | Lara Dykstra | Main Draw | ||||
| Katie Spieler | Karissa Cook | Main Draw | ||||
| Miles Evans | Bill Kolinske | Main Draw | ||||
| Jon Mesko | Syklar Del Sol | Main Draw | ||||
| Staff | ||||||
| Stacy Struble | Sports Medicine, ATC | |||||
In the third NORCECA tournament of the year, teams will play in Ochos Rios, Jamaica. Jace Pardon and Lara Dysktra earned silver their last time out, in the Cayman Islands. Jon Mesko and Skylar Del Sol will be making their third NORCECA appearance this year, hoping to improve on their best of fourth place at the NORCECA opener in La Paz, Mexico. It will be the first international event of the season for Karissa Cook/Katie Spieler, and Cook’s first career international event. Last time out, Bill Kolinske earned bronze with Mark Burik, this time he takes the sand with Miles Evans, in his first NORCECA event of 2017.
BEACH HIGH PERFORMANCE
The final two zonal championships will occur this week from Emerson, California (Atlantic Zone, June 21-23) and Lewisville, Texas (Border Zone, June 22-24). Following the zonal championships, teams will make their way to the July 6-8 USAV Collegiate Beach Open, the national championship for the older age groups. Later in the month, USAV will host the USA Junior Beach Championships, July 31-Aug. 2. The new format of the High Performance championships splits the event by age group in 2017, the younger HP pipeline athletes, U13-19, will play in the USA Junior Beach Championships.
Outside of the USAV championships, the big event of the year for the High Performance program is the FIVB U21 World Championships, July 11-16 in Nanjing, China. Representing the U.S. will be Kathryn Plummer/Mima Mirkovic (Main Draw), Savannah Simo/Torrey Van Winden (Qualification), Clay Messenger/Adam Wienckowski (Main Draw), and Marcus Partain/Miles Partain (Qualification).
It’s not too late to sign up for a Junior Beach Tour event and earn a spot in the #USAVJBT Championships! https://t.co/NkWBqVP6sJ pic.twitter.com/zAOrNb6RVL
— USAV Beach (@USAVBeach) June 20, 2017
JUNIOR BEACH TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Five more tournaments will wrap up the month of June on the Junior Beach Tour. In July, there are 13 events in 13 different states prior to the Championships in Siesta Key, Florida. Get ready to pack your bags, the JBT Championships is exactly one month away, July 20-25.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Hague 3-Star
– Tied for 5th: Brooke Sweat/Summer Ross, in three events, duo has finished in the Top 5 each time
– Tied for 9th: Brittany Hochevar/Emily Day, duo has five T25 finishes in 2017, the most for a USA women’s team, fourth finish in T10
– Tied for 17th: Stafford Slick/Billy Allen, their third consecutive t17th finish; Sean Rosenthal/Trevor Crabb, their third T25 finish and second tying for 17th
– Tied for 25th: Casey Patterson/Theo Brunner, their fourth T25 finish of the year, but earliest exit
Nanjing 2-Star
– First place: Betsi Flint/Kelley Larsen, their first FIVB World Tour medal (individual and as a team) in their first FIVB event of 2017
– Tied for 5th: Kimberly DiCello/Emily Stockman, the third T10 finish for the duo in 2017
– Tied for 9th: Amanda Dowdy/Irene Pollock, their first World Tour event of 2017
Monaco 1-Star
– Tied for 9th: Lara Dykstra/Jace Pardon, their first career FIVB World Tour event
Related Links
The Seattle Times Ryan Doherty: 7-footer goes from minor-league pitcher to pro beach volleyball player
CBS Seattle Ryan Doherty on his path to volleyball, AVP Tour
Ormond Beach Observer Ormond native and Mainland alum Phil Dalhausser is still winning big as a 16-year beach volleyball veteran
FIVB FIVB launches dedicated department to setup new structure of events
USA Volleyball Betsi Flint and Kelley Larsen win gold in China on FIVB World Tour
USA Volleyball Brooke Sweat and Summer Ross tie for fifth in The Hague
FIVB USA’s Flint and Larsen all the way to gold at 2017 Tangshan Open
FIVB Summer’s success with Sweat
New York Times The best jump server on sand