COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 9, 2018) – U.S. women’s beach teams brought home hardware from two FIVB World Tour events over the weekend.
Sara Hughes and Summer Ross won the bronze at the FIVB four-star event in Espinho, Portugal. It was their first FIVB medal as a team. In Sunday’s final, the defeated Poland’s Kinga Kolosinska and Katarzyna Kociolek, 17-21, 21-13, 15-11.
Emily Sonny and Torrey Van Winden, members of the U.S. Collegiate Beach National Team, won the FIVB one-star event in Porec, Croatia. In the final, they beat Ukraine’s Inna Makhno and Iryna Makhno, 21-17, 21-17.
Hughes and Ross, who were seeded sixth in the Main Draw, went 1-1 in pool play. They beat Spain’s Amaranta Fernández Navarro and Angela Lobato Herrero, 21-13, 21-11 in the first round, but then lost to their U.S. teammates Kerri Walsh Jennings and Nicole Branagh in the second round, 21-19, 19-21, 15-11.
They came back to win their next three matches, beating Germany’s Anna Behlen and Sarah Schneider in the second round and the U.S. team of Kelley Claes and Brittany Hochevar in the third.
In the semifinals, Ross and Hughes fell to Australia’s Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho, 15-21, 21-15, 15-8.
Sonny and Van Winden had to win a qualifying match in Porec and were seeded 14th in the Main Draw. They won their pool, sweeping Inna and Iryna Makhno, who were seeded third, and Poland’s Martyna Kloda and Agata Ceynowa, who were seeded sixth.
The U.S. pair advanced straight to the quarterfinals, where they beat Austria’s 12th-seeded Anja Dörfler and Stephanie Wiesmeyr, 21-10, 21-15. In the semis, they beat Greece’s seventh-seeded Konstantina Tsopoulou and Dimitra Manavi, 19-21, 21-10, 15-9 before the rematch with the Makhnos in the final.
The men’s beach team from the Collegiate National Team, Adam Wienckowski and Jon Justice, won their first qualifying match but lost the second.
RESULTS FROM ESPINHO
Women
1. Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho (AUS)
2. Maria Antonelli/Carolina Solberg (BRA)
3. Sara Hughes/Summer Ross
5T. Brittany Hochevar/Kelly Claes
9T. Kerri Walsh Jennings/Nicole Branagh
DNQ Amanda Dowdy/Irene Pollock
Men
1. Janis Smedins/Aleksandrs Samoilovs (LAT)
2. Ricardo Costa Santos/Gustavo Albrecht Carvalhaes (BRA)
3. Julius Thole/Clemens Wickler (GER)
9T. Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena
9T. John Hyden/Theo Brunner
17T. Miles Evans/Bill Kolinske
17T. Jake Gibb/Taylor Crabb
DNQ Reid Priddy/Jeremy Casebeer
GSTAAD MAJOR
The top U.S. beach teams are all in Switzerland this week for the Gstaad Major, one of three 2018 FIVB five-star events. Gorgeous scenery and accommodations along with top competition make it a favorite stop on the FIVB World Tour.
Three U.S. women’s teams played country quota matches on Monday, with Kelley Larsen/Emily Stockman defeating Amanda Dowdy/Irene Pollock (19-21, 21-17, 15-10) and Kelly Claes/Brittany Hochevar (21-13, 24-22).
U.S. TEAMS IN GSTAAD BY RANKING
Women’s Main Draw
5. Alix Klineman/April Ross (Coach Jen Kessy)
8. Summer Ross/Sara Hughes (Coach Jose Loiola)
16. Lauren Fendrick/Emily Day
20. Nicole Branagh/Kerri Walsh Jennings (Coach Marcio Sicoli)
Qualifying
4. Kelley Larsen/Emily Stockman
Men’s Main Draw
1. Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (Coach Jason Locchead)
15. John Hyden/Theo Brunner (Coach Evie Matthews)
19. Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb (Coach Rich Lambourne)
24. Chase Budinger/Sean Rosenthal (wild card) (Coach Ed Keller)
Qualifying
12. Bill Kolinske/Miles Evans
Athlete Support
Tyler Hildebrand, USAV director of coaching, Beach National Teams
Aimee Miyazawa, USAV head athletic trainer, Beach National Teams
Phil Noyes, USAV coordinator, Beach National Teams
Anthony Darmiento, USAV sports physiologist, Beach National Teams
Peter Haberl, sports psychologist
Jennifer Watters, sports medicine
Tony Poland, sports medicine
Tyler Widdison, video and statistics
WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Four teams that qualified at the Bridgestone USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Championships are competing this week at the World University Championships in Munich, Germany.
Pool play began on Monday. Thus far, the women’s teams of Claire Coppola/Kristen Nuss (Louisiana State) and Emily Sonny/Torrey Van Winden (Cal Poly) are 2-0.
The men’s teams of Jon Justice/Adam Wienckowski (Florida State) and Colton Cowell/Brett Rosenmeier (Hawaii) are 0-2 after the first day of pool play.
View complete results at wucbeachvolley2018.com.
U19 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Four U.S. teams that qualified in December will compete at the FIVB U19 World Championships on July 10-15 in Nanjing, China.
The men’s team of Jason Gibbs/Jacob Titus and the women’s team of Maya Harvey/Megan Kraft will compete in the qualifying bracket on July 10.
The men’s team of Tim Brewster/John Schwengel and the women’s team of Devon Newberry/Lindsey Sparks will start in the Main Draw on July 11.
For the event web site, visit fivb.com.
AVP SAN FRANCISCO
Emily Day and Betsi Flint won their second straight AVP title in San Francisco, beating Caitlin Ledoux and Geena Urango in the final, 21-17, 16-21, 15-7.
Alix Klineman/April Ross and Brittany Howard/Kelly Reeves tied for third. Kelley Larsen/Emily Stockman tied for fifth with Lauren Fendrick/Sarah Sponcil.
Ed Ratledge and Puerto Rico’s Roberto Rodriguez won the men’s event, defeating Chase Budinger and Sean Rosenthal in the final, 21-15, 21-18.
Billy Allen/Ryan Doherty tied for third with Tim Bomgren/Chaim Schalk (Canada). Trevor Crabb/John Mayer tied for fifth with Piotr Marciniak/Eric Zaun.
Casey Patterson/Stafford Slick tied for seventh with Reid Priddy/Jeremy Casebeer.
For full results, visit bvbinfo.net.
The next event on the AVP Tour is July 26-29 in Hermosa Beach, Calif.