FIVB snow volleyball: Russian women and Austrian men stood atop the podium at the inaugural World Tour snow volleyball event March 28-31 at the Wagrain-Kleinarl tournament.
Russia’s Olga Motrich, Anna Romashova, Olga Filina and Polina Lapteva lost only one set in their five matches, defeating the USA’s Karissa Cook, Emily Harton, Katy Spieler and Allie Wheeler 19-17, 15-8.
Argentina defeated the Czech Republic for the bronze medal 15-13, 15-13.
On the men’s side, host Austrian teams won both gold and silver as Austria 1’s squad of Florian Schnetzer, Alexander Huber, Martin Streitfellner and Christoph Dressler defeated compatriots Felix Friedl, Arwin Kopschar and Maximilian Trummer 15-11, 15-10.
Russia 1 took bronze as Pavel Rakusov, Yury Bogator, Nikita Kuzmin and Petr Bakhar defeated Russia 3 15-10, 15-10.
The USA’s Travis Mewhirter, Chase Frishman, Eric Zaun and Chris Vaughan finished in fifth place following a 13-15, 15-12, 15-13 quarterfinal loss to Russia 3.
The tournament is the first of three on the FIVB World Tour Snow calendar. The next event is scheduled for Plan de Corones/Kronplatz, Italy April 4-7. The final event is tentatively scheduled for Bariloche, Argentina, August 1-4.
P1440 sponsors courts at Huntington Beach: Kerri Walsh Jennings hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday at the Huntington Beach pier. Walsh Jennings and p1440 will provide 25 branded nets on both sides of the pier.
“I fell in love with the game of beach volleyball in Huntington Beach,” Walsh Jennings said, “and so I have a very meaningful connection to the community — it’s where my career got its start. Huntington is where Misty and I began our partnership and it’s where I first met Casey Jennings, my wonderful husband.”
Whalen to play beach at Cal Poly: Wisconsin outside hitter Mariah Whalen will play beach for Cal Poly in the 2020-2021 season. The 6-1 outside has been training with the p1440 development team. Cal Poly declined comment as Whalen has not yet officially signed.
FIU Surf & Turf: It featured No. 1 UCLA, No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 LSU, No. 8 FIU, No. 10 Stetson, No. 15 Grand Canyon, No. 16 FAU and Tulane.
UCLA won all four of its matches, defeating Florida State (4-1), LSU (4-1), FIU (5-0) and Stetson (5-0). The four wins ran the Bruins’ record to 21-0, losing only eight matches this year. The Bruins are showing exceptional strength at the top of their roster, with No. 1 pairs Nicole and Megan McNamara, No. 2 Sarah Sponcil/Lily Justine, and No. 3 Zana Muno/Abby Van Winkle winning all four of their matches.
Florida State went 3-1, losing only to UCLA. The Seminoles defeated FIU 3-2, Grand Canyon 4-1 and Tulane 5-0. Senior Macy Jerger was a bright spot for the Seminoles, winning all four of her matches, defeating UCLA, FIU, and Grand Canyon with Kate Privett, and a win with Nikki Esposito against Tulane.
LSU finished at 4-1,bouncing back from their loss to UCLA (1-4) to defeat FIU (3-2), Stetson (3-2), FAU (3-2) and Grand Canyon (4-1). The Tigers’ No. 4 pair of Melia Lindner and Megan Davenport gave LSU their only point against UCLA by defeating Savvy Simo and Lea Monkhouse 13-21, 21-11, 15-12.
FIU went 3-3 on the weekend, playing the most matches of any team. The Panthers defeated Stetson (3-2), Grand Canyon (3-2) and Tulane (5-0) but were defeated by UCLA (0-5), Florida State (2-3) and LSU (1-4). Dorina Klinger and Ronja Klinger sealed the win against Grand Canyon with their 21-15, 18-21, 15-8 win on court 2.
Stetson finished a disappointing 1-4. The Hatters swept Tulane but lost a trio of 2-3 losses to FIU, LSU and TCU as well as being swept by UCLA. Sammee Thomas and Darby Dunn were earned ASUN pair of the week honors for wins over LSU, FIU, TCU and Tulane.
Grand Canyon’s record was also 1-4 with a 3-2 win over FAU but losses to FSU (1-4), LSU (1-4), FIU( 2-3), and TCU (2-3). Jessica Stansfield/Bella Bauman went 4-1 on the weekend, with their only loss to LSU’s Kahlee York/Kelli Agnew 21-14, 21-18.
FAU left Miami with a 2-2 record, with all of their matches going either 3-2 or 2-3. They defeated TCU and Tulane but lost to Grand Canyon and LSU.
Tulane ended up 1-4 after defeating TCU (3-2) but losing to FAU (3-2) and being swept by Florida State and Stetson.
Last weekend Cal Poly hosted the Big West Challenge in Pismo Beach. No. 6 Hawai’i, No. 7 Cal Poly, No. 9 Long Beach State, CSU Bakersfield, Sacramento State, and UC Davis were in attendance.
Hawai’i, Cal Poly, and Long Beach State all finished 5-1 as Hawai’i swept Long Beach, Cal Poly beat Hawai’i (3-2), and Long Beach State defeated Cal Poly (4-1).
CSUN finished 3-3, UC Davis 2-4, CSU Bakersfield 1-5, and Sacramento State 0-6.
No. 17 Georgia State hosted the Diggin’Duals, with Georgia State, Arizona State, College of Charleston, UAB, Tampa, and UNCW competing. Host Georgia State finished 4-0, defeating UNCW (3-2), Arizona State (4-1), Charleston (3-2) and Tampa (5-0). Arizona State finished with a 3-1 record, with wins over Charleston (4-1), UNCW (4-1) and UAB (4-1) and a loss to GSU (1-4). UAB finished at 1-3, defeating UNCW (3-2)but losses to Charleston (2-3), Tampa (2-3) and Arizona State (1-4). Tampa left Atlanta with a 2-2 record, defeating UNCW (3-2) and UAB (3-2) but losing to Charleston (1-4) and Georgia State (0-5). UNCW went 0-4 with losses to Tampa (2-3), Georgia State (2-3), Arizona State (1-4) and UAB (2-3).
Also: Pepperdine upset USC 3-2 at Zuma Beach Friday as the Waves’ Skylar Caputo/Alexis Filippone clinched the dual with a 22-20, 14-21, 16-14 win over the Trojans’ Joy Dennis/Maja Kaiser.
