USA
Volleyball will hold its first ever playoffs for an FIVB World Tour Grand Slam
beach affair on March 26 at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa
Monica, California.
Four US
women’s and four men’s beach volleyball teams will contest in winners-take-all
tournaments to compete for slots (one men’s and one women’s) as the United
States’ fourth team in the FIVB Shanghai Jinshan Grand Slam that will take place from April 29 to May 4
in China.
Entry into
FIVB Grand Slam events is based on points accumulated by both members of the
team, which means the top three US teams in terms of points are entered
automatically. The fourth team will be determined by the playoff, which is free
and open to the public.
Automatic
Grand Slam qualifiers for the women are April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, Lauren
Fendrick/Brooke Sweat along with Emily Day/Summer Ross. On the men’s side, Jake
Gibb/Casey Patterson, Phil Dalhausser/ Sean Rosenthal along with Ryan
Doherty/Nick Lucena are automatically entered.
Taking part
in the women’s play offs competition
will be Jennifer Fopma/Whitney Pavlik
(No. 1), Brittany Hochevar/Lane Carico (No. 2), Heather Hughes/Christal Engle
(No. 3) along with Sarah Day/ Allison Daley (No. 4). The men’s competition will see Todd
Rogers/Theo Brunner (No.1), Will Montgomery/Stafford Slick (No. 2), John Mayer/
Brad Keenan (No. 3) along with John Hyden/Tri Bourne (No. 4).
“We looked at
doing this thing every which way,” said Sean Scott, technical manager for the
USAV Beach National Teams. “We’ve exhausted every idea. We look at this as the
best way to create opportunities for players. It’s up to the players to take
that opportunity.”
The men’s
first-round matches will begin at 10:00 followed by women’s at 11:00. The men’s
final will begin at noon followed by the women’s at 13:00.
In the men’s
first round Rogers/Brunner will play Hyden/Bourne while Montgomery/Slick will
take on Mayer/Keenan. In the women’s first round, Fopma/Pavlik will play
Day/Daley while Hochevar/Carico will take on Hughes/Engle.
The playoffs
used to take place at the Grand Slam events themselves. In so-called “Country
Quota” matches, teams from the same country would square off for the fourth
slot in the tournament. However the FIVB eliminated Country Quota playoffs in
2013.
Due to
logistics, USAV cannot hold playoffs for the FIVB Grand Slams following
Shanghai. At that point, the U.S. team that is fourth in points will be
entered. Teams can gain points at FIVB Open and NORCECA Circuit tournaments.
USAV also
should get two wild card entries for the FIVB Grand Slam on July 22-27 in Long
Beach, Calif., which will give five U.S. teams per gender a chance to gain
points.
Men’s playoff
competition
10:00: Todd
Rogers/Theo Brunner vs. John Hyden/Tri
Bourne
10:00: Will
Montgomery/Stafford Slick vs. John
Mayer/ Brad Keenan
12:00: Men’s
final
Women’s
playoff competition
11:00:
Jennifer Fopma/Whitney Pavlik vs. Sarah
Day/Allison Daley
11:00:
Brittany Hochevar/Lane Carico vs.
Heather Hughes/Christal Engle
13:00:
Women’s final
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