Beach
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August 25, 2024
CHICAGO — The main draw of AVP Chicago, the final stop of the 2021 tour, begins Friday. The 16 men’s and women’s teams will compete for a $200,000 AVP Gold Series purse. The cast includes all eight Tokyo 2020 USA beach volleyball Olympians: gold-medalists April Ross and Alix Klineman, Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes, Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, Jake Gibb (who will retire following the World Tour Finals in October), Taylor Crabb, and Tri Bourne.
The field also includes Tokyo 2020 Canadian Olympians Sarah Pavan (partnering with Emily Stockman), and Brandie Wilkerson (partnering with Sara Hughes).
Former beach volleyball Olympians include Casey Patterson (USA), Chaim Schalk (Canada), and Ricardo Santos and Larissa Franca (Brazil).
Friday’s first-round matchups are (all times Central):
Alix Klineman/April Ross (1) vs. Macy Jerger/Devon Newberry (16, Q15)—9:10 a.m.
Taryn Kloth/Kristen Nuss (9) vs. Terese Cannon/Molly Turner (8)—9:05 a.m.
Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil (5) vs. Larissa Maestrini/Liliane Maestrini (12, Q5)—8 a.m.
Megan Nash/Brittany Tiegs (13) vs. Sara Hughes/Brandie Wilkerson (4)—8 a.m.
Sarah Pavan/Emily Stockman (3) vs. Carly Kan/Chelsea Rice (14, Q9)—10:10 a.m.
Emily Hartong/Corinne Quiggle (11) vs. Kelley Kolinske/Susannah Muno (6)—11:15 a.m.
Karissa Cook/Kelly Reeves (7) vs. Megan Rice/Sarah Schermerhorn (10)—12:30 a.m.
Annika Rowland/Teegan Van Gunst (15, Q11) vs. Emily Day/Betsi Flint (2)—12:25 a.m.
Chase Budinger/Casey Patterson (1) vs. Devon Burki/John Schwengel (16, Q28)—11:20 a.m.
Miles Evans/Troy Field (9) vs. Skylar del Sol/Ed Ratledge (8)—11:25 a.m.
Theo Brunner/Chaim Schalk (5) vs. John Hyden/Ricardo Santos (12)—9:15 a.m.
Chase Frishman/Piotr Marciniak (13, Q2) vs. Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb (4)—8:10 a.m.
Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb (3) vs. Evan Cory/Logan Webber (14)—12:20 p.m.
Paul Lotman/Miles Partain (11, Q1) vs. Tim Bomgren/Jeremy Casebeer (6)—1:25 p.m.
Billy Allen/Andy Benesh (7) vs. Eric Beranek/Avery Drost (10)—10:20 a.m.
Jacob Landel/Lev Priima (15, Q5) vs. Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (2)—10:15 a.m.
On the AVP tour, it’s easier to stay in the main draw than to requalify, and that held true Thursday as only one of the top four seeds came through on the women’s side, two of four on the men’s side. Moving from Manhattan Beach’s relatively team-friendly 24-team draw to Chicago’s 16-team draw was a stark reminder of the difficulty of regaining main draw status.
The qualifier’s top women’s seed, Kim Hildreth and Kathryn Hogan, were eliminated in the final match by No. 9 Carly Kan and Chelsea Rice (all scores and results follow). The No. 4 seed, Falyn Fonoimoana and Geena Urango, were eliminated a match early by Manhattan Beach surprise semifinalists Larissa Franca and Liliane Maestrini, who were relegated to the qualifier. Also upset in that final qualifier round were the No. 3 seeds Sheila Shaw and Mackenzie Ponnet, defeated by former Georgia State Panthers Annika Rowland and Teegan Van Gunst.
The No. 2 qualifier seed, Jessica Gaffney and Maria Clara Salgado, fell in round two to No. 15 Macy Jerger and Devon Newberry, who made their first main draw together.
In the men’s qualifier, the top two seeds managed to win through. Top-seeded Miles Partain and Paul Lotman came through without a single team scoring more than 13 against them. Second-seeded Chase Frishman and Piotr Marciniak won despite Marciniak reinjuring his finger, serving left-handed most of the day and frequently blocking with one arm.