COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The FIVB World Tour picks back up after a three-week lull from action. In the U.S., the second playoff for the NORCECA Continental Tour will happen in Manhattan Beach on May 16.
The collegiate beach volleyball season officially wrapped following the USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships, held over the weekend in Hermosa Beach, California. USAV teams now prep for extended road swings on the FIVB World Tour, AVP Tour and NORCECA.
From the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, the U.S. is sending six teams into the main draw, and one women’s team through qualification. The 4-Star tournament features a 32 team (per gender) main draw, and 16 teams in single-elimination qualification, which will advance eight teams into the main draw. The top three ranked teams from each pool will advance to the round of 24 to begin main draw single elimination.
The qualification tournament begins May 17, main draw starts the 18th, with the medal matches concluding the event on May 21.
Of the women’s teams, it will be the first FIVB tournament for the partnership of Lane Carico/Lauren Fendrick. Their first event ever together was the AVP Huntington Beach Open on May 4. Newly graduated and officially professional, Kelly Claes/Sara Hughes are making their debut in Rio. All three of the men’s pairs competing have previous experience within their partnerships, as do Emily Day/Brittany Hochevar and Kimberly DiCello/Emily Stockman.
| FIVB Rio 4-Star Roster | ||||||
| Athletes | Entry | |||||
| Lane Carico | Lauren Fendrick | Main Draw | ||||
| Kelly Claes | Sara Hughes | Main Draw | ||||
| Emily Day | Brittany Hochevar | Main Draw | ||||
| Kimberly DiCello | Emily Stockman | Qualification | ||||
| Casey Patterson | Theo Brunner | Main Draw | ||||
| Jake Gibb | Taylor Crabb | Main Draw | ||||
| John Hyden | Ryan Doherty | Main Draw | ||||
| Staff | ||||||
| Chad Beauchamp | Sports Medicine, PT, DPT, SCS, CSCS | |||||
| Ciara Cappo | Sports Medicine, DC | |||||
Last time out, a star-packed lineup hit the beach to compete in the first U.S. playoff of the NORCECA season. This time around, NORCECA veterans headline the action for a playoff that will award spots in three NORCECA Continental Tour tournaments: Ochos Rios, Jamaica (June 23-25), Varadero, Cuba (July 14-16), and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (Sept. 15-17).
Top men’s seeds are as follows: 1 Billy Allen/Stafford Slick, 2 John Mayer/Jeremy Casebeer, 3 Jon Mesko/Skylar Del Sol. Top women’s seeds are as follows: 1 Kelley Larsen/Betsi Flint, 2 Caitlin Ledoux/Kendra Vanzwieten, 3 Kerri Schuh/Kimberly Hildreth. Also playing in the women’s bracket are Delaney Knudsen and Corinne Quiggle, who just finished their collegiate season last weekend at the NCAA Championship and USAV Collegiate Beach Championships.
2017 JUNIOR BEACH TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS
The USA Volleyball Junior Beach Tour Championships are set for July 20-25 in Siesta Key, Florida. The event will offer championship titles to boys and girls in age groups 12 and under, 14U, 16U and 18U. There are two divisions at the Championships, Open and Club – Club is for all participants to compete in that have not earned a bid on the Junior Beach Tour. There are 52 more JBT events on the schedule ahead of the Championships.
BEACH HIGH PERFORMANCE PIPELINE
The Beach High Performance program will host its first Collegiate Beach National Team training block from May 22-26. The CBNT tied into the USAV Collegiate Beach Championships, with the winning pairs earning spots on a national team for upcoming competitions Beach HP may compete in.
WEEK IN REVIEW
USAV Collegiate Beach Championships
– GOLD: Kelly Claes/Sara Hughes (USC); Lucas Yoder (USC)/Michael Saeta (UC Irvine)
– SILVER: Terese Cannon/Nicolette Martin (USC); Jackson Bantle/Hagen Smith (UCLA)
– BRONZE: Corinne Quiggle/Brittany Howard (Pepperdine); Nathan Vander Meer (Davenport); Logan Webber (Cincinnati Christian)