The USA pairs of Lauren Fendrick and Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes and Brittany Hochevar both went 2-0 Wednesday in pool play at the FIVB Vienna Major.
Three other American women’s pairs went 1-1 in the pro beach tournament in Austria: Sara Hughes and Summer Ross, Alix Klineman and April Ross, and Kelley Larsen and Emily Stockman.
The men had another round of qualifying Wednesday and that saw the USA’s Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb oust compatriots Miles Evans and Billy Kolinske 21-4, 21-16. That puts them into pool play against Switzerland’s Mirco Gerson and Adrian Heidrich.
Other American men in the field include top-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena playing Austrians Simon Fruhbauer and Jorg Wutzi in the first round of pool play, and Theo Brunner and John Hyden — coming off their AVP Hermosa Beach Open victory — versus Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Nikita Liamin of Russia.
BVBinfo.com has the men’s results and schedule.
Twenty-eighth-seeded Fendrick and Sponcil, the pairing of the seasoned veteran and the current UCLA player, beat fifth-seeded Germans Chantal Laboureuer 21-13, 21-14, and then knocked off another German pair, Kim Behrens and Sandra Ittinger 21-23, 23-21, 16-14.
Claes and Hochevar, seeded 13th, had two tough matches, first beating Kristyna Kolocova and Michala Kvapilova of the Czech Republic 19-21, 21-14, 15-13, and then fourth-seeded Fernanda Alves and Barbara Seixas of Brazil 21-18, 21-23, 15-13.
Accordingly, those two USA pairs are into the round of 16.
Earlier on Thursday, Hughes and Summer Ross will open against Kolocova and Kvapilova, Larsen and Stockman take on Nina Betschart and Tanja Huberli of Switzerland with Claes and Hochever getting the winner, and Klineman and April Ross face Taru Lahti and Annlina Parkkinen of Finland with the winner getting Fendrick and Sponcil.
BVBinfo.com has all the women’s results, while this link will take you to the winners bracket.
