The 37th annual Waupaca Boatride volleyball tournament wrapped up on Sunday at Brighton Acres in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The Boatride typically exceeds 1,000 teams, but this year as the county health department gave the tournament the go-ahead, it included the caveat that half of the courts be eliminated.
The tournament absorbed a further body blow when an unusually potent storm dumped nearly two inches of rain Thursday, prompting organizers to cancel Thursday’s play and move Friday’s divisions to Sunday.
Despite the pandemic and weather, participants were enthusiastic to play, as one of the few competitive outlets since the country closed down in March, even in a well-attended, questionably-distanced men’s and women’s finals.
One especially enthusiastic competitor was former Hawai’i setter Joe Worsley, now a professional setter heading to Germany in a little more than three weeks. Joe and his brother Gage, Dalton Solbrig, Chris Schafer, and Luke Lau won the men’s open triples division. If that seems like a lot of players for triples, well, it is. See yesterday’s piece for the details.
“Since a lot of things were shut down this summer, my brother and I heard that the tournament was still on, so we said, ‘We gotta go. It was a last minute decision with Dalton Solbrig, our other partner. He was the one that called and convinced us.
“This tournament is so cool. It’s an unbelievable experience. It’s the coolest volleyball tournament I’ve ever been to, for sure. Hands down. It’s got a great vibe, it’s totally different. Obviously winning makes things a lot better, obviously, but we’ve met a ton of new people, and we’re super-excited to come out this year.”
VolleyballMag.com photo editor Ed Chan waded through mud and puddles as he shot the tournament. Click on any thumbnail to view a photo at full size.
- Carly Skjodt/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Bob Hall celebrates after putting a ball down unopposed/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Carly Skjodt, Delaney Knudsen Mewhirter, and Katie Spieler celebrate/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Joe Worsley pushes the set off the block of Troy Field/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Miles Evans outruns the block/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Cody Caldwell plays a touch off the block/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Kerri Schuh-Klister hustles for a ball/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Rileigh Powers plays a ball at the sand/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Lauren DeTurk hustles down a Brittany Tiegs dig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Miles Evans pushes Bill Kolinske in encouragement after a block/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Delaney Knudsen Mewhirter reaches for a tight set/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Mike Michaelau/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Lev Priima tries to tool while Dalton Solbrig turns his block in/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- John-Michael Plummer dives for a jump serve/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Jessica Grabowski prepares for a right-side spike/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Katie Spieler practices her matrix dance moves/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Andrei Belov jump serves out of a puddle/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Cody Caldwell lunges for a pass/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Field pulls his block back to get the open hand tip call/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Dalton Solbrig sets as Gage and Joe Worsley have distancing issues/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Jessica Gaffney scores a kill/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Dalton Solbrig reaches angle against Cody Caldwell/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Fields blocks out both the sun and the ball/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Tim Bomgren serves/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Blocker Bruno Amorim can only watch the ball go by/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Bob Hall passes a jump serve/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Jessica Gaffney/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Bill Kolinske holds the block with a jump set/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Fields hits line/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Dalton Solbrig, Joe Worsley, and Gage Worsley hug/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Field blocks a ball straight down/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Dalton Solbrig hits off Cody Caldwell’s hands/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Hailey Harward goes all out for a dig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Delaney Knudsen Mewhirter waits to play the ball out of the net/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Jessica Gaffney gets low to pass/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Katie Spieler makes an athletic save/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Relyea Speller hits an off-balance spike/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Meg Kraft swings angle as ominous clouds threaten the tournament/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Iya Lindahl makes a one-handed stab dig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Scott Fabian hits a ball low to the tape/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- The rain left some courts saturated with water Thursday/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Jessica Gaffney celebrates/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- The sun sets on the 37th annual Waupaca Boatride/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- TJ DeFalco hits line/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Tim Bomgren finds some angle/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Scott Fabian gets a rare triples opportunity with no blockers/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Chris Shaffer celebrates/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- TJ DeFalco hits angle/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Dalton Solbrig gives Gage Worsley a push after a dig and kill/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Delaney Knudsen Mewhirter turns a spike line/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Tim Bomgren covers up as Maxwell Martin spikes a ball through his legs/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Delaney Knudsen Mewhirterand Katie Spieler congratulate Carly Skjodt/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Chelsea Ross hits in the women’s final/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Circular fisheye view of warmups/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Lev Priima hits against the block of Joe Worsley and Dalton Solbrig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Tim Bomgren/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- TJ DeFalco swings angle/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Andrei Belov spikes/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Joe Worsley sets
- Tim Brewster runs down a Evan Cory pass/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Delainey Maple leaps for a touch/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Miles Evans exults as the day’s last ray of light hits court one/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Carly Skjodt spikes in Saturday pool play/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Katie Spieler picks up a high line shot/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Brian Bomgren hits while Troy Field runs a fake/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Hailey Harward digs the jumbo/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Most courts suspended play during the heaviest Thursday rains, but some hardy souls continued/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Field hits during the men’s open final/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Questionable social distancing at the women’s triples open final/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Gage Worsley/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Christopher Vaughan goes airborne for the save/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- The wind blows an overpass over Rowdy Martin’s reach/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- TJ DeFalco attracts a blocker/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Carly Kan/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Gage Worsley/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Joe Worsley draws the block/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Relyea Speller/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Lev Priima blocks a Joe Worsley set/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Christopher Vaughan absorbs the full impact of a spike/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Michael Groselle spikes line/Ed Chan, VBshots.com