Country Quota Results - 4 pm Mountain Update
Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil advanced to the qualification round on the women’s side. They beat Sara Hughes/Emily Day in two sets (21-17, 21-17). Earlier in the day, Hughes/Day beat Kelly Reeves/Terese Cannon in straight 21-14 sets.
For the men, both Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb and Bill Kolinkse/Miles Evans earned a qualifier berth. Bourne/Tr. Crabb downed Billy Allen/Andrew Benesh, 2-0 (21-13, 21-13), while Kolinske/Evans outlasted Chaim Schalk/Theo Brunner, 2-0 (35-33, 2-18).
CANCUN, Mexico (April 21, 2021) – Second verse, maybe better than the first?
The U.S. Beach National Team will continue play at the FIVB’s Cancun hub with the second of three four-star tournaments. Tournament 2 will run April 22-26 with country quota matches on Wednesday, April 21.
U.S. beach teams will be looking to improve on their finishes from Tournament 1 and to move up in the FIVB provisional Olympic rankings.
Five American pairs will advance directly to the tournament’s main draw: Jake Gibb/Taylor Crabb and Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena for the men, and Alix Klineman/April Ross, Kelley Kolinske/Emily Stockman and Brooke Sweat/Kerri Walsh Jennings for the women.
One women’s team and two men’s teams will compete in the qualifier April 22 for entry to the main draw. Those teams will be determined in the country quota round Wednesday. Participating in the country quota are Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil, Sara Hughes/Emily Day and Kelly Reeves/Terese Cannon for the women, and Billy Allen/Andrew Benesh, Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb, Bill Kolinske/Miles Evans and Chaim Schalk/Theo Brunner for the men.
This tournament, as with the other two taking place at the Grand Oasis Cancun resort, will award Olympic ranking points toward qualification for the 2020 Olympic Games held in Tokyo this summer. Only two teams per country per gender may earn an Olympic berth.
Klineman/Ross have already mathematically clinched a berth to Tokyo, and three more duos are fighting for the last American women’s spot. Sweat/Walsh Jennings are currently second in the American rankings, 240 points above Claes/Sponcil. Stockman/Kolinske are fourth and fewer than 400 points behind Sweat/Walsh Jennings.
On the men’s side, three teams are competing for two spots. Gibb/Ta. Crabb lead the American rankings with 7,040 points. Dalhausser/Lucena trail by 480 points after cutting their margin in the first tournament. Dalhausser/Lucena also extended their lead for that second qualifying position on Bourne/Tr. Crabb, although only 120 points separate second and third place.
The United States saw five teams – three men’s, two women’s – tie for ninth during the first tournament of the hub. Two more tied for 17th.
| U.S. Rank | Team | Points | World Olympic Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Klineman/Ross | 9,080 | 2 |
| 2 | Sweat/Walsh Jennings | 6,960 | 5 |
| 3 | Claes/Sponcil | 6,720 | 8 |
| 4 | Stockman/Kolinske | 6,360 | 11 |
| U.S. Rank | Team | Points | World Olympic Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ta. Crabb/Gibb | 7,040 | 7 |
| 2 | Dalhausser/Lucena | 6,560 | 14 |
| 3 | Bourne/Tr. Crabb | 6,440 | 15 |
Nine of the top 10 teams in Olympic ranking points for both genders will compete in Cancun Tournament 2, as will all semifinalists of the first tournament. Brazilian duo Talita da Rocha Antunes and Taiana Lima won the women’s event at Tournament 1, and Norwegians Anders Mol and Christian Sorum won the men’s.
All matches of every Cancun tournament will be live streamed on the FIVB’s Beach Volleyball YouTube account.