MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — With 106 men’s teams and 67 women’s competing for eight main-draw AVP Manhattan Beach Open spots, you would have expected an extremely competitive qualifier. And so it was on Thursday, and in the end, experienced veterans came through the tight matches.
The women’s qualifier was remarkably predictable, as six of the eight top seeds made it through to Friday’s action: Lara Dykstra and Jace Pardon, Priscilla Piantadosi-Lima and Brittany Tiegs, Aurora Davis and Bree Scarbrough, Terese Cannon and Nicolette Martin, Karissa Cook and Katie Spieler, and Bre Moreland and Allie Wheeler.
There were two upsets. Summer Nash and Majo Orellana, who were seeded19th seed, recovered from a 14-10 third set deficit under the freeze rule to upset No. 3 Skylar Caputo and Sarah Pavan. And No. 9 Brittany Howard and Corinne Quiggle earned a main draw spot after No. 8 Mackenzie Phelps-Ponnet and Molly Turner were upset by Morgan Martin and Kobi Pekich.
By contrast, the top eight men’s seeds had a difficult go, as only Michael Brunsting and Jeff Samuels, Dave McKienzie and Ian Satterfield, and Kyle Friend and Myles Muagututia came through.
The five upstarts that will join the main draw are 10th-seeded Paul Lotman and Gabriel Ospina, No. 15 Art Barron and Tim May, No. 24 David Smith and Nathan Yang, No. 28 Abel Gustafson and Garrett Wilson, and No. 29 Troy Field and Orlando Irizarry.
The tournament has an expanded 32-team draw for both genders. The draw is composed of the 16 top-ranked AVP teams, eight winners of the AVPNext regions, and the eight qualifying teams.
The tournament is the second of the three AVP gold series events, offering an enhanced purse.
Among the teams in action Friday (a complete list of matches follows) are top-seeded women April Ross and Lauren Fendrick, second-seeded Emily Day and Brittany Hochevar, fifth-seeded Summer Ross and Brooke Sweat and 23rd-seeded Sara Hughes and Kelly Claes. Men’s pairs in action include top-seeded Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb, second-seeded Billy Allen and Stafford Slick, third-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, fifth-seeded Ryan Doherty and John Hyden, and ninth-seeded Ricardo Santos and former indoors Olympian Reid Priddy, who was featured here earlier this week.
Piantadosi-Lima, a veteran of the pro tour since 2004, made her first AVP main draw since 2013 after playing on the NVL tour.
“It feels so good. It’s like life, it goes through ups and downs and you just have to believe in the work you put in,” said Piantadosi-Lima, who made it through for the second time in seven events this season. “I was enjoying every step. It doesn’t matter what happens, I’m going to be loud like I used to be, and let all of me come out again.”
Piantadosi-Lima almost didn’t play, after losing her original partner an hour prior to the signup deadline.
“I was supposed to play with Jessica Sykora and a week and a half ago. She twisted her ankle pretty badly. She said ‘I can’t play,’ and then two days before she said, ‘OK, I can,’ and then the day of she just could not. Somehow, the universe worked out to where I knew that Brittany didn’t have a partner, so we got together about an hour prior to the registration deadline.”
So she had plenty of praise for Tiegs.
“Brittany did an incredible job. She’s so talented, so athletic and her ball control is so good. I’m annoying to play with, because I organize my team, and she was awesome.
As a qualifier with relatively few points, Piantadosi-Lima realizes that they will face one of the stronger teams tomorrow in the first round.
“Obviously, tomorrow, we want to do really well, but anything we do is just a bonus. I’m happy to be there, and just have to keep doing what we did today.”
When you think of a pro-beach veteran, David Smith ought to come to mind. And a timely beer helped the 45-year-old Thursday.
He has played on the tour since 1994. Smith has finished 13th or better six times on the AVP Tour, but he is especially proud of getting 26-year-old Yang to his first main draw.
“It’s exciting. I’m happy for Nate. I’ve been there a few times, and it’s great for me too. I really appreciate each one, but Nate’s first one is special,” Smith said.
“I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it. I cramped up pretty badly at 16-all, my right hamstring went out and I thought we were goners. My buddy Travis (Schoonover) got me a beer, and I felt pretty good after drinking the beer. I felt like I could go a bit more and we got lucky and came out on top.”
Smith knows the next step is a challenge.
“We’ll get some food in, get some rest and hopefully be ready to go tomorrow. It was a good match. Those guys played great. If anything, it shows what a good rule the freeze is. We were down 14-10 in the third and without the freeze, we go down 15-11 on a side-out. I think Donald has a good thing with that rule. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Women’s qualifier bracket
Round 1
Match 2: Jennifer Dalhausser/Mel Sadler (Q64) def. Jade Hayes/Lauren Teknipp (Q65) 21-15, 21-14 (0:47)
Match 34: Johanna Lehman/Natacha Nelson (Q62) def. Kelly Belardi/Savannah Standage (Q67) 21-15, 21-14 (0:33)
Match 63: Meagan Owusu/Jessica Troxell (Q66) def. Jessica McGuire/Wendy Rolph (Q63) 21-15, 21-12 (0:44)
Round 2
Match 65: Lara Dykstra/Jace Pardon (16, Q1) def. Jennifer Dalhausser/Mel Sadler (Q64) 21-8, 21-12 (0:30)
Match 66: Jenna Belton/Elise Zappia (Q32) def. Meg Dawson/Camie Manwill (Q33) 21-19, 21-15 (0:44)
Match 67: Devon Newberry/Lindsey Sparks (Q48) def. Jessica Joanis/Julia Vint (Q17) 21-11, 21-13 (0:33)
Match 68: Terri Del Conte/Aleksandra Wachowicz (Q16) def. Cassandra Barnes/Mara Luther (Q49) 21-11, 21-9 (0:32)
Match 69: Brittany Howard/Corinne Quiggle (22, Q9) def. Kaley Melville/Sarah Schermerhorn (Q56) 21-14, 21-17 (0:38)
Match 70: Deviny Mo/Anne Marie Taylor (Q41) def. Julianne Lackey/Meaghan Wheeler (Q24) 17-21, 21-17, 15-12 (0:58)
Match 71: Michelle Iafigliola/Andrea Peterson (Q25) def. Chanti Holroyd/Amber Walker (Q40) 21-13, 23-21 (0:40)
Match 72: Morgan Martin/Kobi Pekich (Q57) def. Mackenzie Phelps-Ponnet/Molly Turner (Q8) 21-19, 21-17 (0:42)
Match 73: Aurora Davis/Bree Scarbrough (19, Q5) def. Miranda Gagnier/Lindsay Rivas (Q60) 21-15, 21-16 (0:36)
Match 74: Charlie Ekstrom/Kylin Loker (Q37) def. MacKenzie Cook/Jennifer Henderson (Q28) 22-20, 21-12 (0:43)
Match 75: Sasha Karelov/Carlee Roethlisberger (Q44) def. Christina Alessi/Laryssa Mereszczak (Q21) 23-21, 21-9 (0:40)
Match 76: Christina Vucich/Amanda Wiggins (Q12) def. Mariko Coverdale/Michelle Shaffer (Q53) 21-8, 21-17 (0:35)
Match 77: Avery Bush/Litara Keil (Q13) def. Cecilia Agraz/Jessica Mendoza (Q52) 21-17, 21-12 (0:38)
Match 78: Alida Schat/Katherine Wanket (Q20) def. Traci Morin/Lisa Reed (Q45) 21-18, 21-16 (0:39)
Match 79: Cassie House/Katie Pyles (Q36) def. Meredith Rosenberger/Violeta Slabakova (Q29) 21-16, 21-10 (0:37)
Match 80: Terese Cannon/Nicolette Martin (18, Q4) def. Heidi Hausheer-Maarek/Priscilla Jupe (Q61) 21-15, 21-9 (0:33)
Match 81: Skylar Caputo/Sarah Pavan (Q3) def. Johanna Lehman/Natacha Nelson (Q62) 21-17, 21-12 (0:37)
Match 82: Lindsey Fuller/Alicia Zamparelli-Flavia (Q35) def. Olivia Bakos/Peri Brennan (Q30) 21-16, 21-18 (0:49)
Match 83: Summer Nash/Majo Orellana (31, Q19) def. Laura Anderson/Jennifer Solm (Q46) 21-9, 21-7 (0:39)
Match 84: Chibuzo Aguocha/Erin O’Connor (Q14) def. Lynda Morales/Andrea Nucete (Q51) 21-17, 21-12 (0:40)
Match 85: Kimberly Hohl/Jessica Jendryk (Q11) def. Ashley Delgado/Olivia Lee (Q54) 21-17, 21-13 (0:35)
Match 86: Valerie Bueno/Lilly Raney (Q43) def. Kristen Petrasic/Agnieszka Pregowska (Q22) 21-17, 15-21, 15-13 (0:58)
Match 87: Brook Bauer/Kimberly Hildreth (Q27) def. Jamie McQuarrie/Megan Muret (Q38) 21-17, 21-7 (0:36)
Match 88: Karissa Cook/Katie Spieler (20, Q6) def. Kendyl Brennan/Morgan Esters (Q59) 21-11, 21-10 (0:31)
Match 89: Bre Moreland/Allie Wheeler (21, Q7) def. Falyn Fonoimoana/Alexa Strange (Q58) by Forfeit
Match 90: Pippa Monk-Heidrich/Jaden Whitmarsh (Q39) def. Tori Grafeman/Chelsea Hayes (Q26) 19-21, 21-15, 15-12 (0:58)
Match 91: Deahna Kraft/Josephine Kremer (Q23) def. Ksenia Bartie/Sara Fredrickson (Q42) 21-16, 21-19 (0:46)
Match 92: Delaney Knudsen/Kerri Schuh (Q10) def. Haley Paakaula/Chelsea Ross (Q55) 21-17, 21-15 (0:41)
Match 93: Leah DeKok/Lynne Galli (Q15) def. Lexi McKeown/Kiora Sanchez (Q50) 21-11, 21-7 (0:36)
Match 94: Heather Boyan/Mikayla Tucker (Q47) def. Presley Forbes/Alyssa Slagerman (Q18) 19-21, 21-18, 15-9 (0:59)
Match 95: Melanie Fleig/Aurora Skarra-Gallagher (Q34) def. Crystal Meadows/Tess Rogers (Q31) 21-17, 21-16 (0:42)
Match 96: Priscilla Piantadosi-Lima/Brittany Tiegs (17, Q2) def. Meagan Owusu/Jessica Troxell (Q66) 21-9, 21-11 (0:34)
Round 3
Match 97: Lara Dykstra/Jace Pardon (16, Q1) def. Jenna Belton/Elise Zappia (Q32) 21-13, 21-7 (0:28)
Match 98: Terri Del Conte/Aleksandra Wachowicz (Q16) def. Devon Newberry/Lindsey Sparks (Q48) 26-24, 21-19 (0:39)
Match 99: Brittany Howard/Corinne Quiggle (22, Q9) def. Deviny Mo/Anne Marie Taylor (Q41) 21-11, 21-18 (0:40)
Match 100: Morgan Martin/Kobi Pekich (Q57) def. Michelle Iafigliola/Andrea Peterson (Q25) 16-21, 21-14, 15-13 (0:56)
Match 101: Aurora Davis/Bree Scarbrough (19, Q5) def. Charlie Ekstrom/Kylin Loker (Q37) 21-17, 21-11 (0:40)
Match 102: Sasha Karelov/Carlee Roethlisberger (Q44) def. Christina Vucich/Amanda Wiggins (Q12) 22-20, 21-12 (0:40)
Match 103: Avery Bush/Litara Keil (Q13) def. Alida Schat/Katherine Wanket (Q20) 21-12, 14-21, 15-13 (0:51)
Match 104: Terese Cannon/Nicolette Martin (18, Q4) def. Cassie House/Katie Pyles (Q36) 24-22, 21-6 (0:41)
Match 105: Skylar Caputo/Sarah Pavan (Q3) def. Lindsey Fuller/Alicia Zamparelli-Flavia (Q35) 21-13, 21-13 (0:40)
Match 106: Summer Nash/Majo Orellana (31, Q19) def. Chibuzo Aguocha/Erin O’Connor (Q14) 21-19, 21-13 (0:40)
Match 107: Valerie Bueno/Lilly Raney (Q43) def. Kimberly Hohl/Jessica Jendryk (Q11) 21-19, 21-12 (0:41)
Match 108: Karissa Cook/Katie Spieler (20, Q6) def. Brook Bauer/Kimberly Hildreth (Q27) 21-16, 21-18 (0:34)
Match 109: Bre Moreland/Allie Wheeler (21, Q7) def. Pippa Monk-Heidrich/Jaden Whitmarsh (Q39) 21-17, 21-12 (0:30)
Match 110: Delaney Knudsen/Kerri Schuh (Q10) def. Deahna Kraft/Josephine Kremer (Q23) 21-18, 21-15 (0:38)
Match 111: Leah DeKok/Lynne Galli (Q15) def. Heather Boyan/Mikayla Tucker (Q47) 21-11, 21-13 (0:36)
Match 112: Priscilla Piantadosi-Lima/Brittany Tiegs (17, Q2) def. Melanie Fleig/Aurora Skarra-Gallagher (Q34) 21-10, 21-16 (0:40)
Round 4
Match 113: Lara Dykstra/Jace Pardon (16, Q1) def. Terri Del Conte/Aleksandra Wachowicz (Q16) 21-7, 21-10 (0:28)
Match 114: Brittany Howard/Corinne Quiggle (22, Q9) def. Morgan Martin/Kobi Pekich (Q57) 21-15, 21-13 (0:36)
Match 115: Aurora Davis/Bree Scarbrough (19, Q5) def. Sasha Karelov/Carlee Roethlisberger (Q44) 16-21, 21-17, 15-9 (1:01)
Match 116: Terese Cannon/Nicolette Martin (18, Q4) def. Avery Bush/Litara Keil (Q13) 21-13, 21-17 (0:40)
Match 117: Summer Nash/Majo Orellana (31, Q19) def. Skylar Caputo/Sarah Pavan (Q3) 19-21, 21-17, 16-14 (1:22)
Match 118: Karissa Cook/Katie Spieler (20, Q6) def. Valerie Bueno/Lilly Raney (Q43) 21-6, 21-11 (0:32)
Match 119: Bre Moreland/Allie Wheeler (21, Q7) def. Delaney Knudsen/Kerri Schuh (Q10) 13-21, 21-19, 15-11 (0:55)
Match 120: Priscilla Piantadosi-Lima/Brittany Tiegs (17, Q2) def. Leah DeKok/Lynne Galli (Q15) 21-15, 21-12 (0:36)
Friday’s winners bracket
Round 1
Match 1: Lauren Fendrick/April Ross (1) vs. Juliana Friederich/Danielle Jacobson (32)
Match 2: Priscilla Piantadosi-Lima/Brittany Tiegs (17, Q2) vs. Lara Dykstra/Jace Pardon (16, Q1)
Match 3: Karolina Marciniak/Kendra VanZwieten (9) vs. Lisa Howard/Lorelee Smith (24)
Match 4: Melissa Cruz/Christina Glenn (25) vs. Lane Carico/Alix Klineman (8)
Match 5: Summer Ross/Brooke Sweat (5) vs. Peri Green/Rachel Sherman (28)
Match 6: Bre Moreland/Allie Wheeler (21, Q7) vs. Sheila Shaw/Xi Zhang (12)
Match 7: Amanda Dowdy/Irene Pollock (13) vs. Karissa Cook/Katie Spieler (20, Q6)
Match 8: Deveney Pula/Stacey Smith (29) vs. Angela Bensend/Geena Urango (4)
Match 9: Betsi Flint/Kelley Larsen (3) vs. Milani Pickering/Katie Tomsyck (30)
Match 10: Aurora Davis/Bree Scarbrough (19, Q5) vs. Janelle Allen/Kimberly Smith (14)
Match 11: Briana Hinga/Kelly Reeves (11) vs. Brittany Howard/Corinne Quiggle (22, Q9)
Match 12: Sarah Roberts/Kelly Wood (27) vs. Kim DiCello/Emily Stockman (6)
Match 13: Jenny Kropp/Heather McGuire (7) vs. Stacy Howell/Nicole Sherpensky (26)
Match 14: Kelly Claes/Sara Hughes (23) vs. Caitlin Ledoux/Maria Clara Salgado (10)
Match 15: Nicole Branagh/Brandie Wilkerson (15) vs. Terese Cannon/Nicolette Martin (18, Q4) Match 16: Summer Nash/Majo Orellana (31, Q19) vs. Emily Day/Brittany Hochevar (2)
