COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 12, 2019) – Twelve U.S. women’s and men’s beach volleyball players will represent the United States at the ANOC World Beach Games on Oct. 12-16 in Qatar.

Each beach volleyball team at the World Beach Games will have four players with two substitutes.

On the women’s side, the United States will send Karissa Cook, Emily Hartong, Kelly Reeves, Katherine Spieler, Geena Urango and Allie Wheeler.

For the men, Brian Cook, Taylor Crabb, Troy Field, Maddison McKibbin, Riley McKibbin and Casey Patterson are scheduled to compete.

Both the women’s and men’s fields will include teams from eight countries.

The U.S. women’s pool will include teams from Brazil, Czech Republic and Nigeria. The other pool will include Australia, Canada, Vanuatu and Gambia.

The U.S. men’s pool will include teams from Qatar, Germany and Indonesia. The other pool will contain teams from Poland, Chile, Australia and Mozambique.

The ANOC World Beach Games is a global multi-sport event that was created by ANOC (Association of National Olympic Committees) and launched in 2015.

The event was designed to connect new sports and news stars with a new generation of sports fans.

THOUGHTS FROM ROME

Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb had a great run at the FIVB World Tour Finals in Rome. They won their pool, beating Italy’s top-seeded Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo, 23-21, 17-21, 15-8. After winning second- and third-round matches, they fell to Germany’s Julius Thole/Clemens Wickler in the semifinals, 26-24, 21-17.

“I’m bummed,” Gibb said. “I had a swing for the set at 21-20 and I don’t know. My sideout was a little bit off and that was the biggest difference.”

“They just kept the pressure on us,” Crabb added. “They had two really good float serves and we struggled passing and that will always put pressure on your sideout if you can’t pass.”

In the bronze-medal match, they lost to Norway’s powerhouse Anders Mol/Christian Sorum, 21-16, 21-15.

FINAL RESULTS IN ROME
MEN

1 Krasilnikov/Stoyanovskiy RUS
2 Thole/Wickler GER
3 Mol/Sorum NOR
4 Ta. Crabb/Gibb USA
17T. Lucena/Dalhausser USA
25T. Tr. Crabb/Bourne
DNQ Slick/Allen
DNQ Priddy/Brunner

WOMEN
1 Ludwig/Kozuch GER
2 Agatha/Duda BRA
3 Ana Patricia/Rebecca BRA
9T Claes/Sponcil
9T Klineman/A Ross
9T Larsen/Stockman
17T Sweat/Walsh Jennings
DNQ Day/Flint

OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION RACE

The 2019 FIVB World Tour ended with the Finals in Rome on Aug. 28-Sept. 8.

Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb grabbed a fourth-place finish, which came with $16,000 and 840 points toward qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Crabb/Gibb are in third place among U.S. men’s teams trying to qualify and they are 17th overall with 5,100 Olympic qualifying points.

Teams in the top 15 of the FIVB Olympic rankings qualify automatically for the Olympic Games. If there are more than two teams from a country in the top 15, then only the top two qualify.

Teams must compete in at least 12 qualifying events during the qualification period, which runs Sept. 1, 2018-June 14, 2020.

U.S. WOMEN’S PROVISIONAL OLYMPIC RANKINGS
1 Alix Klineman/April Ross (2nd overall) 8,760
2 Kerri Walsh Jennings/Brooke Sweat (5th overall) 6,780
3 Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil (7th overall) 6,560
4 Kelley Larsen/Emily Stockman (9th overall) 6,040

U.S. MEN’S PROVISIONAL OLYMPIC RANKINGS
1 Trevor Crabb/Tri Bourne (11th overall) 5,960
2 Nick Lucena/Phil Dalhausser (16th overall, need two events to be in the running) 5,360
3 Jake Gibb/Taylor Crabb (17th overall, need two events to be in the running) 5,100

FIVB Women’s Provisional Olympic Rankings – FIVB Men’s Provisional Olympic Rankings

COMING UP

Emily Hartong/Geena Urango and Brandon Joyner/Michael Boag will compete for the U.S. on Sept. 13-15 at the NORCECA Tour event in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

The AVP will hold its Hawaii Open on Sept. 20-22 in Waikiki.

Melissa Fuchs/Lindsey Fuller and Aurora Davis/Allie Wheeler along with Travis Mewhirter/Kyle Friend and Chris Austin/Kris Johnson will compete for the U.S. on Sept. 27-29 at the NORCECA Tour event in Bonaire.