Partain/Benesh Reach Round of 16 in Paris with Three-Set Win

PARIS, France (August 1, 2024) – The youngest U.S. men’s beach team in Olympic history, Miles Partain and Andy Benesh, earned a spot in the Round of 16 at the Paris Olympics with a 2-1 (21-17, 14-21, 15-8) win over George Wanderley and Andre Loyola of Brazil in gusty conditions on Thursday. The U.S. finished second in Pool D with a 2-1 record. George/Andre placed third with a 1-2 mark. The Round of 16 takes place on Sunday, Aug. 4.

“They are one of the best teams in the world,” Benesh said. “I knew we needed to bring our game today the way we want to play. We were super aggressive, I thought Miles played great, and then our mentality was really solid going in and we held it throughout the match. We are super proud of how we came into that match and we were able to persist with that win today.”

Both players scored 18 points with Partain, the youngest U.S. men’s Olympic beach player at age 22, totaling 15 kills, a block and a pair of aces that came in the deciding set. Benesh finished with 11 kills, four blocks (three in the final set) and three aces. Brazil committed 17 errors, while the U.S. made half of its 14 errors in the second set.

Brazil took an 8-6 lead in the opening set before the U.S. ran off four points in a row, including an ace by Benesh and an unsuccessful foot fault challenge. After George/Andre evened the set at 13, Partain/Benesh went on another 4-0 run keyed by Benesh’s third ace and another tough serve that set him up to hammer a ball down.

After Partain scored to make it 19-15, Benesh recorded a block to give the U.S. its first set point. Brazil fought off two set points before Benesh ended the set on a tap off the block, his eighth kill and 12th point. Partain scored six points on five kills and a block.

George/Andre forced an early U.S. timeout in the second set by taking a 5-1 lead. A strong short serve by Partain led to an easy point by Benesh to close the gap to two points, 8-6, but the U.S. team could not get closer. George/Andre extended the lead to seven points, 17-10, on back-to-back hitting errors. The teams exchanged points the rest of the set to send the match to a third set.

A Partain kill and ace staked the U.S. to a 2-0 lead in the third set and after a Brazil point, Partain/Benesh scored the next three points. A tough float serve by Benesh led to a Brazilian hitting error and a quick timeout at 4-1 and then Benesh came up with a big block.

George/Andre pulled within three points, 8-5, before a Partain kill on a second ball and back-to-back Benesh blocks raised the lead to six points, 11-5. Another Partain kill on a second ball made it 12-7. Brazil scored the next point but then committed a serving error and a hitting error to set up match point. Partain ended the match with his second ace. Partain recorded all six of the team’s kills in the set.

Partain said the pair will fully prepare for elimination stage while also making sure they take in the moment.

“We are going to recover and then just trying to stay as positive as possible for the rest of the tournament,” Partain said. “Train as hard as we can. Keep doing scouting, watching film and playing to our strengths and enjoying it.”