FIVB Cancun Hub: Bourne-Crabb, Sponcil-Claes make it through 4-star qualifier

Two of three USA teams survived Thursday’s qualifier at the second of three pro beach volleyball events at the 4-star FIVB Cancun Hub.

Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb and Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes advanced, while Miles Evans and Bill Kolinske fell in the first round of qualification.

The eight men’s teams advancing to Friday’s main-draw pool play are the USA’s Bourne and Crabb, Switzerland’s Florian Breer and Marco Krattiger, Canada’s Sam Pedlow and Sam Schachter, Poland’s Maciej Rudol and Jakub Szalankiewicz, the Netherlands’ Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot, Poland’s Piotr Kantor and Bartosz Losiak, Austria’s Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller, and Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig.

For the women, the USA’s Sponcil and Claes, Brazil’s Carolina Salgado and Barbara Seixas, Cuba’s Lidiannis Echeverria and Yanisleidis Sanchez, the Netherlands’ Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam and Emi and Maxime van Driel, Switzerland’s Esmee Bobner and Zoe Verge-Depre, Germany’s Victoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider, and France’s Lezana Placette and Alexia Richard made it through two rounds of qualification.

Bourne and Crabb had a longer road than most, beginning with a country-quota win Wednesday over one of the USA’s new teams, Billy Allen and Andy Benesh (21-13, 21-13). Thursday they were tested in both matches, beating Israel’s Sean Faiga and Netanel Ohana (21-14, 18-21, 15-12) and then Brazil’s Arthur Mariano and Pedro Solberg (22-20, 21-18). 

Bourne and Crabb served Mariano throughout the match, preying on the 25-year-old’s relative inexperience, having competed in only 16 FIVB tournaments. The strategy paid off, as the Americans never trailed, advancing to the main draw on a missed Mariano cut shot.

Sponcil and Claes were able to breathe a sigh of relief after making Friday’s main draw. Last week they failed to qualify, losing to Brazil’s Victoria Lopes and Taina Silva, unable to add to their Olympic point totals. 

Wednesday the Americans began Hub 2 with a country-quota win over Sara Hughes and Emily Day (21-17, 21-17). Thursday they utterly dominated Japan’s Satono Ishitsubo and Asami Shiba in 26 minutes (21-10, 21-9), punching their main draw ticket with an emphatic first-ball sideout by Claes.

Miles Evans and Bill Kolinske took advantage of their first Cancun country-quota opportunity, surviving a tough first set to defeat Theo Brunner and Chaim Schalk (35-33, 21-18). 

In the qualifier, however, they fell to Poland’s Maciej Rudol and Jakub Szalankiewicz (21-15, 21-19). Evans and Kolinske trailed throughout, failing to execute a number of makable plays, ending when Kolinske missed a short pokey wide. 

Friday’s USA schedule (all times local):
10 a.m. — Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb vs. Poland’s Rudol/Szalankiewicz, Bourne and Trevor Crabb vs Italy’s Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo
11 a.m. — Nick Lucena and Phil Dalhausser vs. Germany’s Julius Thole and Yannick Harms
2 p.m. — Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat vs. Canada’s Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson
3 p.m.– Emily Stockman and Kelley Kolinske vs. Claes and Sponcil, Alix Klineman and April Ross vs. Switzerland’s Esmee Bobner and Zoe Verge-Depre

Matches are live-streamed on the FIVB’s YouTube channel. As always, you can find TV and streaming listings here.

***

Results courtesy of BVBinfo.com
MEN
Country-quota matches
Arthur Mariano/Pedro Solberg Brazil (Q17) def. Gustavo “Guto” Carvalhaes/Arthur Da Silva Brazil 21-17, 21-16 (0:39)
Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb USA (19, Q1) def. Billy Allen/Andy Benesh USA 21-13, 21-13 (0:33)
Miles Evans/Billy Kolinske USA (Q13) def. Theo Brunner/Chaim Schalk USA 35-33, 21-18 (0:52)
Qualifier Bracket
Round 1
Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb USA (19, Q1) def. Sean Faiga/Netanel Ohana Israel (Q32) 21-14, 18-21, 15-12 (0:51)
Arthur Mariano/Pedro Solberg Brazil (Q17) def. Hendrik Mol/Svein Solhaug Norway (Q16) 21-19, 21-17 (0:43)
Florian Breer/Marco Krattiger Switzerland (26, Q9) def. Luis Garcia/Andy Leonardo Guatemala (Q24) 21-14, 22-20 (0:34)
Kusti Nolvak/Mart Tiisaar Estonia (Q8) def. Milosz Kruk/Mikolaj Miszczuk Poland (Q25) 21-15, 21-15 (0:33)
Sam Pedlow/Sam Schachter Canada (23, Q5) def. Jacob Brinck/Daniel Thomsen Denmark (Q28) 21-15, 21-12 (0:33)
Andrea Abbiati/Tiziano Andreatta Italy (Q21) def. Yves Haussener/Quentin Metral Switzerland (Q12) 22-20, 21-16 (0:34)
Maciej Rudol/Jakub Szalankiewicz Poland (30, Q20) def. Miles Evans/Billy Kolinske USA (Q13) 21-15, 21-19 (0:39)
Anton Kislytsyn/Daniil Kuvichka Russia (Q29) def. Esteban Grimalt/Marco Grimalt Chile (Q4) 18-21, 21-16, 15-10 (0:49)
Stefan Boermans/Yorick de Groot Netherlands (31, Q30) def. Nikita Liamin/Taras Myskiv Russia (Q3) 21-11, 21-13 (0:28)
Samuele Cottafava/Jakob Windisch Italy (Q14) def. Mathias Berntsen/Nils Ringoen Norway (Q19) 25-23, 21-15 (0:39)
Julian Azaad/Nicolas Capogrosso Argentina (Q11) def. Miguel Sarabia/Raymond Stephens Mexico (Q22) 21-13, 21-11 (0:28)
Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak Poland (25, Q6) def. Dany Lopez/Ruben Mora Nicaragua (Q27) 21-7, 21-11 (0:27)
Quincy Aye/Arnaud Gauthier-Rat France (Q7) def. Ben O’Dea/Sam O’Dea New Zealand (Q26) 17-21, 21-15, 15-11 (0:50)
Robin Seidl/Philipp Waller Austria (27, Q10) def. Aaron Nusbaum/Michael Plantinga Canada (Q23) 21-19, 13-21, 15-12 (0:50)
David Ahman/Jonatan Hellvig Sweden (29, Q18) def. Jasper Bouter/Ruben Penninga Netherlands (Q15) 21-19, 16-21, 15-13 (0:48)
Martin Ermacora/Moritz Pristauz-Telsnigg Austria (Q2) def. Joaquin Bello/Luis Javier Bello England (Q31) 13-21, 21-12, 16-14 (0:47)
Round 2
Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb USA (19, Q1) def. Arthur Mariano/Pedro Solberg Brazil (Q17) 22-20, 21-18 (0:44)
Florian Breer/Marco Krattiger Switzerland (26, Q9) def. Kusti Nolvak/Mart Tiisaar Estonia (Q8) 21-13, 21-18 (0:32)
Sam Pedlow/Sam Schachter Canada (23, Q5) def. Andrea Abbiati/Tiziano Andreatta Italy (Q21) 21-17, 21-14 (0:32)
Maciej Rudol/Jakub Szalankiewicz Poland (30, Q20) def. Anton Kislytsyn/Daniil Kuvichka Russia (Q29) 18-21, 21-15, 15-7 (0:48)
Stefan Boermans/Yorick de Groot Netherlands (31, Q30) def. Samuele Cottafava/Jakob Windisch Italy (Q14) 26-24, 13-21, 15-6 (0:47)
Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak Poland (25, Q6) def. Julian Azaad/Nicolas Capogrosso Argentina (Q11) 21-13, 19-21, 15-11 (0:49)
Robin Seidl/Philipp Waller Austria (27, Q10) def. Quincy Aye/Arnaud Gauthier-Rat France (Q7) 25-23, 21-14 (0:37)
David Ahman/Jonatan Hellvig Sweden (29, Q18) def. Martin Ermacora/Moritz Pristauz-Telsnigg Austria (Q2) 21-15, 21-17 (0:34)

WOMEN
Country-quota matches
Carolina Salgado/Barbara Seixas Brazil (12, Q1) def. Victoria Lopes/Taina Silva Brazil 21-12, 24-22 (0:43)
Emily Day/Sara Hughes USA def. Terese Cannon/Kelly Reeves USA 21-14, 21-14 (0:36)
Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil USA (19, Q2) def. Emily Day/Sara Hughes USA 21-17, 21-17 (0:37)
Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider Germany (24, Q3) def. Leonie Kortzinger/Sarah Schneider Germany 21-13, 21-16
Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider Germany (24, Q3) def. Kim Behrens/Sandra Ittlinger Germany 25-23, 16-21, 15-13
Qualifier Bracket
Round 1
Sunniva Helland-Hansen/Ingrid Lunde Norway (Q16) def. Laura Caluori/Anna Lutz Switzerland (Q17) 21-13, 21-14 (0:34)
Andrea Galindo/Claudia “Gorda” Galindo Colombia (Q24) def. Niina Ahtiainen/Anniina Parkkinen Finland (Q9) 21-0, 21-0
Lidiannis Echeverria/Yanisleidis Sanchez Cuba (27, Q8) def. Ieva Dumbauskaite/Gerda Grudzinskaite Lithuania (Q25) 21-19, 21-13 (0:33)
Vasiliki Arvaniti/Penny Karagkouni Greece (Q5) def. Danna Cortes/Paulette Cruz Mexico (Q28) 21-8, 21-12 (0:26)
Raisa Schoon/Katja Stam Netherlands (30, Q21) def. Mailen Deliz/Leila Martinez Cuba (Q12) 21-12, 21-19 (0:34)
Esmee Bobner/Zoe Verge-Depre Switzerland (29, Q20) def. Julie Gordon/Shanice Marcelle Canada (Q13) 21-8, 21-15 (0:35)
Ksenia Dabizha/Daria Rudykh Russia (Q4) def. Esperanza Albarran/Atenas Gutierrez Mexico (Q29) 30-28, 21-9 (0:45)
Aline Chamereau/Clemence Vieira France (Q14) def. Dorina Klinger/Ronja Klinger Austria (Q19) 22-20, 21-12 (0:38)
Lezana Placette/Alexia Richard France (28, Q11) def. Anita Dave/Sofia Starikov Israel (Q22) 21-16, 25-23 (0:42)
Emilie Olimstad/Ane Tveit Hjortland Norway (Q27) def. Marleen Van Iersel/Pleun Ypma Netherlands (Q6) 19-21, 21-11, 15-10 (0:51)
Emi van Driel/Mexime van Driel Netherlands (31, Q26) def. Michaela Kubickova/Michala Kvapilova Czech Republic (Q7) 21-16, 21-16 (0:34)
Mariia Bocharova/Aleksandra Ganenko Russia (Q10) def. Sakurako Fujii/Yukako Suzuki Japan (Q23) 21-12, 21-13 (0:30)
Satono Ishitsubo/Asami Shiba Japan (Q15) def. Estefanie Bethancourt/Natalia Giron Guatemala (Q18) 21-7, 21-19 (0:32)
Round 2
Carolina Salgado/Barbara Seixas Brazil (12, Q1) def. Sunniva Helland-Hansen/Ingrid Lunde Norway (Q16) 21-12, 18-21, 15-13 (0:55)
Lidiannis Echeverria/Yanisleidis Sanchez Cuba (27, Q8) def. Andrea Galindo/Claudia “Gorda” Galindo Colombia (Q24) 21-12, 21-19 (0:30)
Raisa Schoon/Katja Stam Netherlands (30, Q21) def. Vasiliki Arvaniti/Penny Karagkouni Greece (Q5) 23-21, 21-19 (0:40)
Esmee Bobner/Zoe Verge-Depre Switzerland (29, Q20) def. Ksenia Dabizha/Daria Rudykh Russia (Q4) 21-18, 21-15 (0:32)
Victoria Bieneck/Isabel Schneider Germany (24, Q3) def. Aline Chamereau/Clemence Vieira France (Q14) 19-21, 21-18, 15-13 (0:52)
Lezana Placette/Alexia Richard France (28, Q11) def. Emilie Olimstad/Ane Tveit Hjortland Norway (Q27) 21-17, 21-18 (0:37)
Emi van Driel/Mexime van Driel Netherlands (31, Q26) def. Mariia Bocharova/Aleksandra Ganenko Russia (Q10) 21-16, 17-21, 18-16 (0:48)
Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil USA (19, Q2) def. Satono Ishitsubo/Asami Shiba Japan (Q15) 21-10, 21-9 (0:26)