Lovelace court at Long Beach: The school named one of its sand courts for Bill Lovelace this past Saturday. Lovelace, who passed away March 29, 2015, as a result of complications associated with Parkinson’s disease, was passionate about beach volleyball, donating his time to coach hundreds of kids, including pro beach star Sarah Hughes and Nebraska/USA libero Justine Wong-Orantes.
“It’s hard to put into words how much Bill meant to me,” Hughes said. “He was the most kind hearted man who was so easily able to teach the game he loved to young players. More importantly than anything else, Bill was able to teach a love and passion for the game. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him.”
FIVB Cambodia, India: The FIVB two-star event in Phnom Penh, Cambodia concluded February 24, while the one-star Vizag Open in Visakhapatnam, India runs February 28-March 3.
In Cambodia, Americans Amanda Dowdy-Corinne Quiggle finished with a silver medal, splitting 360 points and $3,000 after losing to Vasiliki Arvaniti and Penny Karagkouni of Greece 21-14, 21-17.
Caitlin Ledoux and Geena Urango finished fifth after a loss to Arvaniti-Karagkouni 21-12, 21-16.
Brittany Hochevar and Carly Wopat placed ninth, losing to Dowdy-Quiggle 21-10, 21-18.
In the FIVB one-star in Visakhapatnam, two teams entered the women’s event. USA twins Audrey and Nicole Nourse eliminated Quiggle, this time playing with Cassie House, 21-14, 17-21, 15-12 in qualification.
The Nourse twins will face Anita Deev and Sofia Starikov of Israel in the first round of playoffs.
The next FIVB events are the Sydney three-star for the women (March 5-10), the Doha four-star for the men (March 11-16).
Americans expected to compete in Sydney include on the women’s side Brooke Sweat-Kerri Walsh Jennings, Betsi Flint-Emily Day, Brittany Howard-Kelly Reeves, and Carly Wopat-Brittany Hochevar. The men’s list shows Taylor Crabb-Jake Gibb, John Hyden-Ryan Doherty, Stafford Slick-Billy Allen, Bill Kolinske-Miles Evans, and Casey Patterson-Chase Budinger.
Doha will feature Americans Nick Lucena-Phil Dalhausser, Tri Bourne-Taylor Crabb, and Miles Evans-Bill Kolinske.
P1440 launches p1440 RISE: Kerri Walsh Jennings and p1440 have launched p1440 RISE, a series of grassroots junior beach volleyball events culminating in the p1440 RISE Junior National Championships July 7-8 in Southern California.
“My husband and I have always wanted to create something together that would allow us to give back to our sport at the grassroots level,” Walsh Jennings said in a news release.
“Through p1440 RISE, we’re expanding our movement and supporting the advancement of future players in the sport,” said Walsh Jennings, co-founder of p1440.
“When I’m coaching at our youth clinics and kids say ‘I want to play just like you’, I always tell the players to be themselves, to do it their way and to strive to be better than me. Now with p1440 RISE, we are creating opportunities for athletes to grow, compete and rise up the ladder, so that our sport will have new and amazing stars, Olympians and leaders.”
Goncalves-Schmidt take gold at CBV Fortaleza: Evandro Goncalves and Bruno Oscar-Schmidt took top prize in their first Confederation of Beach Volleyball (CBV) event in the Fortaleza stop February 24.
They beat Alvaro Filho-Ricardo Santos in the final without losing a set in the tournament. Bronze went to Gustavo Carvalhaes and Saymon Barbosa.
On the women’s side, Carolina Salgado and Maria Antonelli defeated Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda Lisboa Duda 21-17, 21-17 to earn gold, their third win on the CBV this year. Taiana Lima and Talita Antunes won the bronze medal.
