COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (July 4, 2019) – U.S. beach teams brought the July 4th fireworks to the FIVB World Championships on Thursday as six teams advanced in Hamburg, Germany.
All four U.S. men’s teams competing in Hamburg advanced to the Round of 16: Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, Jake Gibb/Taylor Crabb, Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb and Billy Allen/Stafford Slick.
Two U.S. women’s teams remain: Alix Klineman/April Ross and Sara Hughes/Summer Ross. The pair will play each other in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Leading the way for the men were Allen/Slick, seeded No. 29, who upset the defending World and Olympic champions Evandro Gonçalves Oliveira Júnior/Bruno Oscar Schmidt of Brazil, 21-19, 21-18.
Both Slick and Allen called it the biggest FIVB Tour win of their careers.
“The big focus was to fight off the serve,” Allen said. “We knew they both have great serves. They got us a few times. But we hung in there. I think the balls we got up in the air, we bettered it with a set and still got a swing.”
Brazil led in kills (24-20) and aces (4-3) while Slick led in blocks (5-1). Slick/Allen scored 14 points on Brazil’s errors while committing eight.
“Bruno and Evandro are unbelievable athletes and talents and Olympic and World Champions,” Slick said. “We’re not going to beat them every day. But we were fortunate to beat them today.
“Evandro’s serve is a tremendous weapon and one of the key words we were using today was ‘disarm.’ How can we disarm that weapon? I think Billy did a great job receiving those serves and siding out at a high level.”
Slick/Allen will face Italy’s No. 8 Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo in the Round of 16 on Friday.
No. 6 Dalhausser/Lucena, who went 1-2 in pool play, beat Qatar’s Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan, 21-18, 21-15.
“It’s a little different urgency when you’re in a single-elimination tournament,” Dalhausser said. “You’re focus sharpens at least for us. We’ve had two, back-to-back good games. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into tomorrow.”
Dalhausser/Lucena will play Russia’s No. 15 Nikita Liamin/Taras Myskiv on Friday.
No. 7 Gibb/Taylor Crabb used strong blocking and serving to beat Spain’s Pablo Herrera/Adrián Gavira, 21-16, 21-17.
“We watched all our matches against them that we’ve ever played,” Gibb said. “We made a few very key adjustments that just paid off huge. Props to (coach) Rich Lambourne.”
Gibb/Crabb will play Russia’s No. 3 Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Oleg Stoyanovskiy on Friday.
No. 13 Bourne/Trevor Crabb won a battle with Germany’s No. 39 Nils Ehlers/Lars Flüggen, 15-21, 21-19, 15-10.
“That was the deciding factor. We were getting better reads on them blocking-wise,” Trevor Crabb said. “That fuels our whole game when both of us are getting blocks, not just one of us.”
Bourne/Crabb led the match in blocks, 5-4, with Bourne having four blocks.
Bourne/Crabb will play Russia’s No. 5 Ilya Leshukov/Konstantin Semenov on Friday.
On the women’s side, No. 5 April Ross/Klineman beat Latvia’s No. 26 Tina Graudina/Anastasija Kravcenoka, 21-11, 21-18.
“We weren’t going to give that Latvian team an inch,” April Ross said. “We know that if you do, they can play really, really well. They started to play a lot better in the second set. But we knew how important that match was; so we just came in as hard as we could.”
No. 11 Hughes/Summer Ross beat Netherlands’ No. 31 Marleen Ramond-van Iersel/Joy Stubbe, 21-14, 21-19.
No. 16 Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil saw their tournament come to an end when they lost to Italy’s No. 24 Marta Menegatti/Viktoria Orsi Toth, 26-24, 21-16.
“A ninth at World Champs does sound good, but gosh we wanted to go further,” Claes said.
NBCSN presents live coverage beginning Friday, June 28 at Noon ET. Coverage on NBCSN will stream live on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.
U.S. Teams and Coaches
Women
April Ross/Alix Klineman (Jen Kessy)
Sara Hughes/Summer Ross (Jose Loiola)
Emily Stockman/Kelley Larsen (Evie Matthews)
Sarah Sponcil/Kelly Claes (Leandro Pinheiro)
Kerri Walsh Jennings/Brooke Sweat (Marcio Sicoli)
Men
Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (Jason Lochhead)
Jake Gibb/Taylor Crabb (Rich Lambourne)
Trevor Crabb/Tri Bourne (Pompilio Mercadantes)
Stafford Slick/Billy Allen (John Mayer)
Support Staff
Athletic Trainer: Mike Martinez
Sports Psychologist: Peter Haberl
Chiropractor: Jen Watters
National Team Coach: Tyler Hildebrand
Team Leader: Sean Scott
Performance Analyst: Tyler Widdison
USOPC Representative: John Crawley
Massage Therapist: Tony Poland
U.S. Schedule for the Beach Volleyball World Championships
(All times PT)
June 28
Dalhausser/Lucena USA def Azaad/Capogrosso ARG, 21-14, 21-13
Alison/Alvaro Filho BRA def Allen/Slick USA, 19-21, 21-15, 15-10
Stubbe/Van Iersel NED def Sweat/Walsh Jennings USA, 21-15, 19-21, 15-9
Kozuch/Ludwig GER def Larsen/Stockman USA, 25-19, 25-15
June 29
Sponcil/Claes USA def Ukolova/Birlova RUS, 21-8, 21-16
Hughes/S Ross USA def Gallay/Pereyra ARG, 21-18, 15-21, 16-14
Gibb/Ta Crabb USA def Vieyto/Cairus URU, 21-17, 21-13
Bourne/Tr Crabb USA vs Salemi/Vakili IRI, 13-21, 21-16, 15-9
Klineman/A Ross USA vs Mendoza/Lolette NCA, 21-8, 21-7
June 30
Sweat/Walsh Jennings USA def Maita/Letendrie MRI, 21-2, 21-2
Sponcil/Claes USA def Yuli/Diana COL, 21-8, 21-9
Klineman/A Ross USA def Xue/Wang CHN, 21-10, 21-11
Allen/Slick USA def Semenov/Leshukov RUS, 13-21, 27-25, 15-12
Gibb/Crabb Ta USA def Hudyakov/Velichko RUS, 21-15, 21-14
Larsen/Stockman USA def Nnoruga/Franco NGR, 21-6, 21-13
Saxton/O’Gorman CAN def Dalhausser/Lucena USA, 21-16, 21-19
July 1
Hughes/S Ross USA def Zeng/Lin CHN, 21-19, 21-13
Bourne/Tr Crabb USA def Kavalo/Ntagengwa RWA, 21-13, 21-9
Clancy/Artacho Del Solar AUS def Sweat/Walsh Jennings USA, 21-19, 24-22
Borger/Sude GER def Klineman/A Ross USA, 21-15, 21-23, 15-10
July 2
Pavan/Melissa CAN def Sponcil/Claes USA, 22-24, 21-17, 18-16
Larsen/Stockman USA def Maria Antonelli/Carol BRA, 24-22, 14-21, 15-9
Makroguzova/Kholomina RUS def Hughes/S Ross USA, 21-16, 21-18
Allen/Slick USA def Tamer Mahmoud QAT, 21-13, 21-11
Brouwer/Meeuwsen NED def Dalhausser/Lucena, 21-19, 21-15
Kantor/Losiak POL def Gibb/Ta Crabb USA, 21-17, 21-19
Thole/Wickler GER def Bourne/Tr Crabb USA, 21-16, 21-17
July 3
Women’s Round of 32
Keizer/Meppelink NED def Larsen/Stockman USA, 21-17, 13-21, 15-13
Sponcil/Claes USA def Laboureur/Ittlinger GER, 19-21, 21-19, 15-10
Hughes/S Ross USA def Kozuch/Ludwig GER, 21-15, 21-12
Agatha/Duda BRA def Sweat//Walsh Jennings USA, 21-18, 21-16
Klineman/Ross USA def Maria Antonelli/Carol BRA, 21-15, 13-21, 15-11
Men’s Lucky Loser
Dalhausser/Lucena USA def Ontiveros/Virgen, 21-15, 21-17
July 4
Men’s Round of 32
Allen/Slick USA def Evandro/Bruno Schmidt BRA, 21-19, 21-18
Gibb/Ta Crabb USA def Herrera/Gavira ESP, 21-16, 21-17
Bourne/Tr Crabb USA def Ehlers/Fluggen GER, 15-21, 21-19, 15-10
Dalhausser/Lucena USA def Cherif/Ahmed QAT, 21-18, 21-15
Women’s Round of 16
Hughes/S Ross USA def Stubbe/Van Iersel NED, 21-14, 21-19
Klineman/A Ross USA def Graudina/Kravcenoka LAT, 21-11, 21-18
Menegatti/Orsi Toth ITA def Sponcil/Claes USA, 26-24, 21-16
July 5
Women’s Quarterfinals
3:30 a.m. Hughes/S Ross USA vs Klineman/A Ross USA
Men’s Round of 16
4:45 a.m. Krasilnikov/Stoyanovskiy RUS vs Gibb/Ta Crabb USA
6 a.m. Leshukov/Semenkov RUS v Bourne/Tr Crabb USA
7:45 a.m. Nicolai/Lupo ITA v Allen/Slick USA
9 a.m. Liamin/Myskiv RUS v Dalhausser/Lucena USA
July 6
Men’s Quarterfinals
Men’s Semifinals
Women’s Bronze and Gold
July 7
Men’s Bronze and Gold