MANHATTAN BEACH–A seeming cast of thousands was whittled down Thursday to Friday’s respective fields of 32 at the AVP Manhattan Beach Open.
The eight men’s qualifiers into the main draw included some long shots, like Ric Cervantes and Lucas Yoder, who were seeded 52nd and now play top-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena.
Of note is that Billy Kolinske made into a main draw for the first time in three years. He and partner Eric Beranek were the eighth-seeded qualifiers, are now seeded 26th, and will play seventh-seeded Ed Ratledge and Roberto Rodriguez after winning three times.
And the youngsters, brothers Marcus and Miles Partain, moved as the 25th seed and will play eighth-seeded Ryan Doherty and Miles Evans.
The Partain brothers, both UCLA commits as setters/opposites, find the familial connection easy.
“It’s definitely easier,” Miles said. “We’re super-comfortable with each other, he’s easy to practice with, we’re always together, it’s a lot easier to find people to train with, and we’re both Christian, so we share the same values, which is nice when things get tough. It’s nice to know that we have the same ideas about things.”
The men’s 16 first-round matchups:
Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (1) vs. Ric Cervantes/Lucas Yoder (32, Q52)
Duncan Budinger/Kyle Friend (17) vs. Paul Lotman/Gabriel Ospina (16)
Theo Brunner/John Hyden (9) vs. Kyle Radde/David Vander Meer (24, Q3)
Marcus Partain/Miles Partain (25, Q5) vs. Ryan Doherty/Miles Evans (8)
Jeremy Casebeer/Chaim Schalk (5) vs. Marty Lorenz/Travis Schoonover (28, Q11)
Christian Honer/Brian Miller (21) vs. Maddison McKibbin/Riley McKibbin (12)
Mark Burik/Ian Satterfield (13) vs. Peter Connole/Steven Roschitz (20)
Tyler Lesneski/Dave Palm (29) vs. Trevor Crabb/Reid Priddy (4)
Tim Bomgren/Troy Field (3) vs. Michael Boag/Matt Motter (30, Q15)
Ben Vaught/Logan Webber (19) vs. Bruno Amorim/Skylar del Sol (14)
Michael Brunsting/Ty Loomis (11) vs. Jacob Landel/Lev Priima (22, Q1)
Christopher Austin/Kristopher Johnson (27, Q10) vs. Sean Rosenthal/Ricardo Santos (6)
Ed Ratledge/Roberto Rodriguez (7) vs. Eric Beranek/Billy Kolinske (26, Q8)
Travis Mewhirter/Raffe Paulis (23) vs. Avery Drost/Chase Frishman (10)
Dylan Maarek/Curt Toppel (15) vs. Andy Benesh/Adam Roberts (18)
Angel Dache/Brian Tillman (31) vs. Chase Budinger/Casey Patterson (2)
“It feels great to be back,” Kolinske said. “Playing with Eric, he’s such a high-energy guy, it’s as lot of fun battling with him. We went one game at a time today, and ended up victorious (in the fourth round of qualifying) against a really good team in Jake (Urritia) and Earl (Schultz), so we’re excited and ready to go for tomorrow.”
Click here for the complete list of Thursday’s men’s results, courtesy of BVBinfo.com.
The women’s bracket also includes a few teams that beat long odds.
The pair of Lindsey Sparks and Abby Van Winkle, who will be UCLA sophomores in 2020, were seeded 41st in the qualifier, got through and will play top-seeded Alix Klineman and April Ross. The Bruins’ training prepped them for the rigor of an AVP qualifier.
“It prepares us because we practice pretty much every day,” Van Winkle said. “Stein and Jenny are just great coaches that really prepare us for situations that are just like this. Super-tight, a lot of stress, but I think we’re mentally pretty tough, so I think that helps.”
Jenna Belton and Chanti Holroyd were seeded 32nd and got through and play second-seeded Emily Day and Betsi Flint, while Lexi McKeown and Piper Monk-Heidrich, the 30th-seeded qualifiers, advanced and will play fourth-seeded Sara Hughes and Brandie Wilkerson. McKeown will be a sophomore for Florida State Beach, while Monk-Heidrich will be a sophomore at UCLA beach.
Hughes is playing this tournament with Wilkerson, a Canadian, because her partner, Summer Ross, is recovering from an injury. They’ll play Piper Monk-Heidrich and Lexi McKeown, who were pretty excited about their three victories Thursday.
“This is the first time I’ve made it through a qualifier, and this is an amazing feeling to get that last point and be like, ‘I made it. I made it to the next day.’ It’s amazing,” Monk-Heidrich said.
McKeown is also in her first main draw.
“It’s amazing, honestly,” McKeown said. “I feel like it’s something everybody dreams of growing up playing beach, you watch people in the main draw, and you’re just so inspired and awed.”
Friday’s lineup:
Alix Klineman/April Ross (1) vs. Lindsey Sparks/Abby Van Winkle (32, Q41)
Emily Hartong/Geena Urango (17) vs. Falyn Fonoimoana/Alexa Strange (16)
Brittany Howard/Molly Turner (9) vs. Jessica Gaffney/Chelsea Ross (24, Q4)
Katie Lindelow/Carolyn Meister (25, Q5) vs. Kim DiCello/Irene Pollock (8)
Terese Cannon/Kelly Reeves (5) vs. Macy Jerger/Bre Moreland (28, Q15)
Lara Dykstra/Allie Wheeler (21) vs. Megan Rice/Brittany Tiegs (12)
Mackenzie Ponnet/Sheila Shaw (13) vs. Priscilla Piantadosi-Lima/Kimberly Smith (20)
Lexi McKeown/Piper Monk-Heidrich (29, Q30) vs. Sara Hughes/Brandie Wilkerson (4)
Karissa Cook/Jace Pardon (3) vs. Claire Coppola/Kristen Nuss (30)
Delaney Knudsen/Katie Spieler (19) vs. Traci Callahan/Carly Wopat (14)
Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan (11) vs. Kathryn Hogan/Bree Scarbrough (22)
Iya Lindahl/Morgan Martin (27, Q7) vs. Kimberly Hildreth/Sarah Schermerhorn (6)
Amanda Dowdy/Corinne Quiggle (7) vs. Aurora Davis/Toni Rodriguez (26, Q6)
Crissy Jones/Susannah Muno (23) vs. Caitlin Ledoux/Maria Clara Salgado (10)
Nicolette Martin/Kerri Schuh (15) vs. Tory Paranagua/Jessica Sykora (18)
Jenna Belton/Chanti Holroyd (31, Q32) vs. Emily Day/Betsi Flint (2)
Click here for the complete list of Thursday’s women’s results, courtesy of BVBinfo.com.
Miss any of our Manhattan Beach coverage? Catch up here:
Pepe Delahoz, perhaps the unlikeliest MBO winner in 1998
MBO preview
MBO Thursday
MBO Friday
MBO Saturday
MBO Sunday
MBO post-tournament photo gallery
