Walsh Jennings-Sweat get through qualifier into FIVB 4-star Sochi pool play

With the qualifier completed, the stage is set for the penultimate Olympic beach volleyball qualifier, a four-star tournament in Sochi, Russia, and Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat got through into pool play.

Seven other women’s teams advanced to pool play, including Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam (Netherlands), Angela Lobato and Amaranta Navarro (Spain), Ieva Dumbauskaite and Gerda Grudzinskaite (Lithuania), Megan and Nicole McNamara (Canada), Ekaterina Birlova and Elizaveta Zayonchkovskaya (Russia), and Anita Dave and Sofia Starikov (Israel).

The eight men’s qualifiers are Nikita Liamin and Taras Myskiv (Russia), Mathias Berntsen and Hendrik Mol (Norway), Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller (Austria), Florian Breer and Marco Krattiger (Switzerland), Anton Kislytsyn and Daniil Kuvichka (Russia), Julian Azaad and Nicolas Capogrosso (Argentina), Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot (Netherlands), and Gustavo Carvalhaes and Arthur da Silva (Brazil).

Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat got through with by beating Poland’s Agata Ceynowa and Marta Lodej (21-12, 21-13).

The USA Thursday pool schedule:
Women (all times Eastern)
2 a.m. — Walsh Jennings and Sweat vs. Switzerland’s Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli
2 a.m. — Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil vs. Italy’s Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Orsi Toth
3:40 a.m. — Kelley Kolinske and Emily Stockman vs. Germany’s Victoria Bieneck and Isabel Schneider
3:40 a.m. — Alix Klineman and April Ross vs. Spain’s Angela Lobato and Amaranta Navarro
Men
7 a.m. — Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena vs. Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins
7 a.m. — Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb vs. Austria’s Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller
7:50 a.m. — Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb vs. Germany’s Nils Ehlers and Lars Fluggen

For more on the Olympic implications, Tom Feuer wrote this article breaking it all down last week.

Wednesday country-quota play, Corinne Quiggle and Allie Wheeler beat Aurora Davis and Sarah Schermerhorn (21-14, 21-16), but were subsequently defeated by Walsh Jennings and Sweat (21-17, 22-20).

VolleyballMag.com contributor Travis Mewhirter and Adam Roberts upset Chaim Schalk and Theo Brunner in the country quota Tuesday (19-21, 21-17, 21-18), but fell to Argentina’s Julian Azaad and Nicolas Capogrosso in Wednesday’s qualifier (21-17, 19-21, 15-9).

WOMEN
Country Quota
Chantal Laboureur/Sarah Schulz Germany def. Leonie Kortzinger/Sarah Schneider Germany 21-17, 18-21, 15-11 (0:53)
Kim Behrens/Sandra Ittlinger Germany (22, Q2) def. Chantal Laboureur/Sarah Schulz Germany 21-19, 20-22, 15-7 (0:50)
Corinne Quiggle/Allie Wheeler USA def. Aurora Davis/Sarah Schermerhorn USA 21-14, 21-16 (0:34)
Brooke Sweat/Kerri Walsh Jennings USA (18, Q1) def. Corinne Quiggle/Allie Wheeler USA 21-17, 22-20 (0:36)
Qualifier Bracket
Round 1
Agata Ceynowa/Marta Lodej Poland (Q16) def. Frida Berntsen/Oda Ulveseth Norway (Q17) 17-21, 26-24, 15-10 (0:55)
Raisa Schoon/Katja Stam Netherlands (30, Q9) def. Daria Mastikova/Anna Saveleva Russia (Q24) 21-18, 21-11 (0:33)
Anastasiia Frolova/Maria Voronina Russia (Q8) def. Daniele Kvedaraite/Ieva Vasiliauskaite Lithuania (Q25) 22-20, 21-13 (0:34)
Alexandra Moiseeva/Ekaterina Syrtseva Russia (Q12) def. Svitlana Baburina/Maryna Hladun Ukraine (Q21) 21-17, 21-14 (0:34)
Ieva Dumbauskaite/Gerda Grudzinskaite Lithuania (32, Q20) def. Ingrid Lunde/Emilie Olimstad Norway (Q13) 21-19, 24-22 (0:44)
Emi van Driel/Mexime van Driel Netherlands (Q14) def. Margherita Bianchin/Claudia Scampoli Italy (Q19) 21-19, 21-14 (0:35)
Victoria Lopes/Taina Silva Brazil (31, Q11) def. Karole Virbickaite/Vytene Vitkauskaite Lithuania (Q22) 21-14, 21-16 (0:33)
Ekaterina Birlova/Elizaveta Zayonchkovskaya Russia (Q10) def. Anastasia Barsuk/Polina Tsyganova Russia (Q23) 21-0, 21-0 (0:05)
Anita Dave/Sofia Starikov Israel (Q18) def. Sunniva Helland-Hansen/Ane Tveit Hjortland Norway (Q15) 21-15, 21-17 (0:38)
Round 2
Brooke Sweat/Kerri Walsh Jennings USA (18, Q1) def. Agata Ceynowa/Marta Lodej Poland (Q16) 21-12, 21-13 (0:29)
Raisa Schoon/Katja Stam Netherlands (30, Q9) def. Anastasiia Frolova/Maria Voronina Russia (Q8) 21-17, 21-15 (0:32)
Angela Lobato/Amaranta Navarro Spain (27, Q5) def. Alexandra Moiseeva/Ekaterina Syrtseva Russia (Q12) 21-12, 19-21, 15-13 (0:49)
Ieva Dumbauskaite/Gerda Grudzinskaite Lithuania (32, Q20) def. Maria Carro/Paula Soria Spain (Q4) 10-21, 21-15, 16-14 (0:42)
Megan McNamara/Nicole McNamara Canada (26, Q3) def. Emi van Driel/Mexime van Driel Netherlands (Q14) 21-19, 21-12 (0:36)
Victoria Lopes/Taina Silva Brazil (31, Q11) def. Nadine Strauss/Teresa Strauss Austria (Q6) 21-16, 21-14 (0:33)
Niina Ahtiainen/Riikka Lehtonen Finland (29, Q7) def. Ekaterina Birlova/Elizaveta Zayonchkovskaya Russia (Q10) 21-13, 21-15 (0:33)
Kim Behrens/Sandra Ittlinger Germany (22, Q2) def. Anita Dave/Sofia Starikov Israel (Q18) 21-13, 21-15 (0:33)
Results courtesy of BVBinfo.com. Click here for Thursday’s complete women’s pool-play schedule on BVBinfo and here for the FIVB schedule.

MEN
Country Quota
Travis Mewhirter/Adam Roberts USA (Q22) def. Theo Brunner/Chaim Schalk USA 19-21, 21-17, 20-18 (1:03)
Qualifier Bracket
Round 1
Maciej Rudol/Jakub Szalankiewicz Poland (Q17) def. Alejandro Huerta/Cesar Menendez Spain (Q16) 21-18, 25-23 (0:44)
Ruslan Bykanov/Alexander Likholetov Russia (Q9) def. Artur Hajos/Bence Streli Hungary (Q24) 21-16, 21-14 (0:36)
Mathias Berntsen/Hendrik Mol Norway (29, Q8) def. Eylon Elazar/Netanel Ohana Israel (Q25) 21-12, 21-12 (0:32)
Samuele Cottafava/Jakob Windisch Italy (Q12) def. Ardis Bedritis/Arturs Rinkevics Latvia (Q21) 21-17, 21-13 (0:30)
David Ahman/Jonatan Hellvig Sweden (Q13) def. Alex Ranghieri/Marco Viscovich Italy (Q20) 21-13, 21-12 (0:34)
Anton Kislytsyn/Daniil Kuvichka Russia (30, Q19) def. Vitor Felipe/Renato Lima Brazil (Q14) 16-21, 21-19, 18-16 (0:55)
Julian Azaad/Nicolas Capogrosso Argentina (32, Q11) def. Travis Mewhirter/Adam Roberts USA (Q22) 21-17, 19-21, 15-9 (0:51)
Stefan Boermans/Yorick de Groot Netherlands (28, Q7) def. Maksim Abramov/Artur Salmanov Russia (Q26) 21-18, 21-9 (0:31)
Aliaksandr Dziadkou/Pavel Piatrushka Belarus (Q10) def. Patrik Manas/Jiri Sedlak Czech Republic (Q23) 21-17, 21-12 (0:31)
Petr Bakhnar/Valeriy Samoday Russia (Q18) def. Jan Pokersnik/Nejc Zemljak Slovenia (Q15) 21-18, 21-18 (0:38)
Round 2
Nikita Liamin/Taras Myskiv Russia (26, Q1) def. Maciej Rudol/Jakub Szalankiewicz Poland (Q17) 15-21, 21-17, 15-5 (0:46)
Mathias Berntsen/Hendrik Mol Norway (29, Q8) def. Ruslan Bykanov/Alexander Likholetov Russia (Q9) 23-25, 21-16, 15-12 (0:53)
Robin Seidl/Philipp Waller Austria (27, Q5) def. Samuele Cottafava/Jakob Windisch Italy (Q12) 21-14, 24-22 (0:37)
Florian Breer/Marco Krattiger Switzerland (25, Q4) def. David Ahman/Jonatan Hellvig Sweden (Q13) 20-22, 21-18, 15-13 (0:52)
Anton Kislytsyn/Daniil Kuvichka Russia (30, Q19) def. Grant O’Gorman/Ben Saxton Canada (Q3) 20-22, 21-15, 15-12 (0:46)
Julian Azaad/Nicolas Capogrosso Argentina (32, Q11) def. Philipp Bergmann/Yannick Harms Germany (Q6) 21-15, 19-21, 15-13 (0:56)
Stefan Boermans/Yorick de Groot Netherlands (28, Q7) def. Aliaksandr Dziadkou/Pavel Piatrushka Belarus (Q10) 22-20, 21-12 (0:32)
Gustavo “Guto” Carvalhaes/Arthur da Silva Brazil (24, Q2) def. Petr Bakhnar/Valeriy Samoday Russia (Q18) 21-16, 21-14 (0:36)
Results courtesy of BVBinfo.com. Click here for Thursday’s complete men’s pool-play schedule on BVBinfo and here for the FIVB schedule.

.