Beach Volleyball Digest: Austria, Brazil, Netherlands revamp federations with new partnerships in La Paz

HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. — Of the 38 events played by Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller, it’s a shame it will likely be the last that is recalled most often. Austria’s No. 1 duo since midway through 2018, when they waltzed their way from a 24 seed to a gold medal in Haiyang, China, in their first event together, Waller and Seidl were the undersized superheroes of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.

Seidl, who competed in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games alongside similarly diminutive Alexander Huber, stands just 6-foot-3, while the 27-year-old Waller is 6-foot-1. They rose as high as No. 12 in the world and, despite the obvious matchup issues, were a consistent thorn in the side of Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, going the full three sets in three of their last six meetings.

Now they’re starting over once more.

A puzzling loss in the final round of the Doha Elite 16 qualifier on February 1, to the Czech Republic’s Jan Dumek and Jiri Sedlak, marked the final match for Waller and Seidl. Last week, prior to the release of the La Paz Challenge entry list, the Austrian federation presented its entirely new look, with Waller teaming up alongside Martin Ermacora and Seidl with Moritz Pristauz.

Pristauz and Ermacora had enjoyed moderate success as a team, winning a bronze and silver in a pair of Challenge events and finishing 2022 on consecutive top-10 finishes in Elite 16s in Cape Town and Uberlandia. Seidl and Pristauz are currently seeded 11 in the main draw for La Paz, while Ermacora and Waller are 12.

“I understand that this change might have surprised many people at this time, but it’s what Robin and Moritz wanted,” Austrian national team head coach Martin Olejnak told Volleyball World. “The coaching staff has evaluated the situation and discussed it with the players and I’m very confident that this move will give us new power and I see great potential in both teams.”

Austria isn’t the only federation to receive a makeover prior to Mexico’s string of events, which begin in La Paz on March 16 and end with the Tepic Elite 16 on March 26. Brazil, too, will present almost an entirely new look. The only pair to begin in the main draw for La Paz will be Evandro and Arthur Mariano, who had previously competed with Vinicius and Pedro Salgado, respectively. Vinicius is now defending for Saymon Barbosa, while Salgado had scooped up lefty defender Alvaro Filho, who competed in the Tokyo Olympic Games with Alison Cerutti and had a brief and mercurial partnership with Evandro.

The final notable switch-up comes from the Netherlands. What Stefan Boermans would do remained the only major question from the Dutch Federation. The 6-foot-8 28-year-old had a rapid rise to prominence blocking for Yorick de Groot, winning Gstaad in just their fifth event together in 2021 and claiming a silver medal at the European Championships. de Groot, however, missed the majority of the 2022 season with a hernia, and Boermans then turned to Matthew Immers, then an unproven 21-year-old. Immers proved himself fast enough, as they won their fourth event together, a gold at the Agadir Challenge, and followed it up with a fourth and fifth at the Hamburg and Paris Elite 16s.

With whom would Boermans make a run at the Paris Olympic Games?

Answer: Yorick de Groot.

The two are currently seeded No. 1 in the La Paz qualifier. As far as the Dutch federation is concerned, they are the third team, behind Alex Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen, and Christiaan Varenhorst and Steven van de Velde, with a slim margin over Leon Luini and Ruben Penninga.

AVP Miami or La Paz Challenge? 

When the AVP released its schedule, anyone comparing it side-by-side with the Volleyball World dates could immediately do the math and see that the season-opener in Miami conflicted with the aforementioned La Paz Challenge. Nine American men’s teams initially signed up, and more than a dozen women.

Who would go where?

The deadline to withdraw without injury note or penalty has passed, and four American men will skip Miami to play La Paz: Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk, Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner — both teams are in the main draw — Evan Cory and Logan Webber (qualifier), and Hagen Smith and Bill Kolinske. Smith and Kolinske are still No. 3 on the reserve list and could withdraw without penalty, should they choose, but it’s highly likely they’ll get into the qualifier, at which point they would no longer be able to withdraw without penalty.

Seven women’s teams, meanwhile, will skip Miami for La Paz. Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, Kelley Kolinske and Hailey Harward, and Emily Stockman and Megan Kraft will begin in the main draw. Corinne Quiggle and Sarah Schermerhorn, Savvy Simo and Toni Rodriguez, and Zana Muno and Jessica Gaffney will begin in the qualifier.

Travis Mewhirter