Miles Evans
6-4
PARIS, France (July 30, 2024) – After opening the Paris Olympics with a win yesterday, the U.S. beach team of Miles Evans and Chase Budinger dropped to 1-1 with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-15) loss to Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot of the Netherlands at Eiffel Tower Stadium on Tuesday. Boermans/de Groot moved to 2-0.
Evans/Budinger complete pool play on Friday, Aug. 2 at 6 a.m. PT (3 p.m. local) against Pablo Herrera and Adrián Gavira of Spain.
“They played a heck of a game,” Budinger said. “They set at such a high rate, I felt like a lot of my block touches I was just missing. On inch here, one inch there, I could have had some blocks and had better touches. They serve really tough and got us out of system and were able to make some defensive plays and got us to shank some as well so overall they just played a much better, solid, more consistent game.”
Budinger finished the match with 12 points on 11 kills and an ace. Evans totaled 11 points on10 kills and an ace. The U.S. made 14 errors compared to five for their opponents.
After the teams exchanged five sideouts, the Australian team took a 4-2 lead on a block and led the rest of the opening set. An ace made it 11-7 and the set was never closer than three points after that. The U.S. committed eight errors in the set. Budinger finished the set with seven kills and Evans added four.
Boermans/de Groot took an early 4-1 lead in the second set and never relinquished the lead. An Evans ace cut the margin to one point, 9-8, but the Australian duo went on a 5-2 run to stretch the lead to four points.
A Budinger ace pulled the U.S. back within two points, 14-12. With a 17-14 lead, Australia combined a great dig and touch shot at the net to regain a four-point advantage, 18-14. The final two points of the match were on a block and an ace. Evans scored six points on five kills and an ace, and Budinger contributed five points on four kills and an ace.
“For me personally I would like to be more consistent from the service line and pass a little more consistently as well,” Evans said. “I think those two aspects of my game today weren’t as good and I think if they are as good as the first match, then we are going to be in good shape.”
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