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