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.
- Katie Spieler makes an athletic save/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Andrei Belov spikes/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- TJ DeFalco swings angle/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Chelsea Ross hits in the women’s final/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Christopher Vaughan goes airborne for the save/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Gage Worsley/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Scott Fabian hits a ball low to the tape/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Bob Hall celebrates after putting a ball down unopposed/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Relyea Speller/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Fields blocks out both the sun and the ball/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Delaney Knudsen Mewhirterand Katie Spieler congratulate Carly Skjodt/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Katie Spieler practices her matrix dance moves/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Jessica Gaffney celebrates/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- TJ DeFalco attracts a blocker/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Delaney Knudsen Mewhirter waits to play the ball out of the net/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Carly Kan/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Dalton Solbrig sets as Gage and Joe Worsley have distancing issues/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Jessica Grabowski prepares for a right-side spike/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Chris Shaffer celebrates/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Delaney Knudsen Mewhirter reaches for a tight set/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- TJ DeFalco hits line/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Delaney Knudsen Mewhirter turns a spike line/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Cody Caldwell plays a touch off the block/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- TJ DeFalco hits angle/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Carly Skjodt/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Brian Bomgren hits while Troy Field runs a fake/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Hailey Harward goes all out for a dig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Bob Hall passes a jump serve/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Scott Fabian gets a rare triples opportunity with no blockers/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Dalton Solbrig reaches angle against Cody Caldwell/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Cody Caldwell lunges for a pass/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Bill Kolinske holds the block with a jump set/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Dalton Solbrig gives Gage Worsley a push after a dig and kill/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Most courts suspended play during the heaviest Thursday rains, but some hardy souls continued/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- The sun sets on the 37th annual Waupaca Boatride/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Miles Evans outruns the block/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Lev Priima blocks a Joe Worsley set/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Gage Worsley/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Fields hits line/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Blocker Bruno Amorim can only watch the ball go by/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Joe Worsley sets
- Joe Worsley pushes the set off the block of Troy Field/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Joe Worsley draws the block/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- The wind blows an overpass over Rowdy Martin’s reach/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Questionable social distancing at the women’s triples open final/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Hailey Harward digs the jumbo/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Jessica Gaffney scores a kill/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Jessica Gaffney/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Delainey Maple leaps for a touch/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Lev Priima hits against the block of Joe Worsley and Dalton Solbrig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Kerri Schuh-Klister hustles for a ball/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Tim Bomgren/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Mike Michaelau/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Miles Evans pushes Bill Kolinske in encouragement after a block/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Andrei Belov jump serves out of a puddle/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Iya Lindahl makes a one-handed stab dig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Field blocks a ball straight down/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Jessica Gaffney gets low to pass/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Tim Bomgren serves/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Meg Kraft swings angle as ominous clouds threaten the tournament/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Carly Skjodt, Delaney Knudsen Mewhirter, and Katie Spieler celebrate/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Tim Brewster runs down a Evan Cory pass/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Rileigh Powers plays a ball at the sand/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Tim Bomgren covers up as Maxwell Martin spikes a ball through his legs/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Lauren DeTurk hustles down a Brittany Tiegs dig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Dalton Solbrig, Joe Worsley, and Gage Worsley hug/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Christopher Vaughan absorbs the full impact of a spike/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Carly Skjodt spikes in Saturday pool play/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Lev Priima tries to tool while Dalton Solbrig turns his block in/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Miles Evans exults as the day’s last ray of light hits court one/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Field hits during the men’s open final/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Field pulls his block back to get the open hand tip call/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- The rain left some courts saturated with water Thursday/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- John-Michael Plummer dives for a jump serve/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Tim Bomgren finds some angle/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Dalton Solbrig hits off Cody Caldwell’s hands/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Michael Groselle spikes line/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Circular fisheye view of warmups/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Katie Spieler picks up a high line shot/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Relyea Speller hits an off-balance spike/Ed Chan, VBshots.com