Beach volleyball remains in full speed as the college period heads right into its 3rd weekend break and also the professional period obtains underway inMiami In this take a look at what will certainly be a busy stretch, we begin with a study brand-newNo 1 TCU, see that else is striking the NCAA sands, and also see that is playing in the the professional occasions in South Florida.
Happy Horned Frogs
TCU’s sports program has actually taken pleasure in a speedy of success throughout the 2022-23 academic year, and also beach train Hector Gutierrez is pleased that his unbeaten Horned Frogs have actually jumped aboard for that woozy flight.
Football went bonkers with an excessive go up the positions that caused an area in the College Football Playoff and also a thrill-a-minute 51-45 triumph in the nationwide semifinals over Michigan, prior to ultimately dropping much brief in the title video game versus Georgia.
TCU ladies’s interior volleyball made a quote to the NCAA Tournament in Coach Jason Williams’ initial period, and also grabbed a first-round triumph overWashington The guys’s basketball group is 20-11, placedNo 22 across the country heading right into the Big 12 Tournament, and also looks to be secured right into a quote to the Big Dance, predicted as aNo 5 seed by bracketology expert Joe Lunardi.
This week, an additional engaging heading welcomed TCU (8-0) when it struckNo 1 in the AVCA beach-volleyball survey for the very first time in program background. Heady things, certainly, for followers of the independent school in Fort Worth, Texas.
TCU had actually been placedNo 2 previously– for 6 successive weeks, in fact, throughout the 2022 period– however the leading sounded had actually thwarted theHorned Frogs That is, up until success this weekend break over top-10-ranked Florida State (No 2 at the time) and also Georgia State leapfrogged them from 3rd to initially in the 2nd positions of the young beach period. TCU went 4-0 throughout the Tampa Tournament in Florida, winning 40 of 43 collections.
“Starting with football this year, we’ve been on this big wave athletically,” Gutierrez claimedWednesday “But it’s not simply football or us[in beach volleyball] We have actually obtained tennis, guys’s basketball, ladies’s football, rifle, rider– a great deal of groups doing truly well. As trainers, we see what is taking place below each day. It’s not a shock for us that practically every sporting activity is succeeding.
“As a school we’re really proud because we are only 9,000 students. If you compare it with other schools, it’s really small. But you can tell how the school is behind the athletic department, and that they believe that athletics are a really important piece of the university. The school has given us all of the tools to be successful. The good thing about TCU is that they just don’t look out for football or basketball, they look out for every single athlete.”
If Gutierrez’s team desires to stay for even more enjoyable atNo 1, it requires to tidy up some incomplete organization this weekend break in its Horned Frog Challenge inFort Worth On the docket Friday and also Saturday are suits versus Texas A&M-Kingsville (4-3) and also Southern Mississippi (6-3), however much more significantly, 2 versus fourth-ranked and also unbeaten LSU (9-0), the group that knocked the Horned Frogs out of the NCAA Championships in 2022. Dropping a 3-2 choice to LSU required TCU to choose a seventh-place coating at the NCAAs in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and also a last survey position ofNo 6, in spite of a nation-leading 39 success and also 21 success over Top 20 adversaries. The Horned Frogs are 3-9 all-time versus the Tigers.
“To be ranked No. 1 means we are doing the right things. It means what we are doing works,” claimed Gutierrez, that has actually directed his group to the NCAA Championships in each of the last 2 periods. “But we are not done yet. It’s great to be No. 1. I’d much rather be on the top than the bottom, for sure. But this is just the beginning. Week 2. We need to keep eyes on what’s coming up in the season, especially for nationals, to keep working to be No. 1 at the end of the year. And not to be distracted by being No. 1.”
The Horned Frogs have actually been solid backwards and forwards the schedule, however especially outstanding at theNo 1 set. Spanish nationals Daniela Alvarez and also Tania Moreno, returning first-team AVCA All-Americans, swept their 4 suits in Tampa, outscoring the leading duos from Florida State and also Georgia State by a mixed 84-63 overall. Alvarez, a 6-2 elderly, and also Moreno, a 5-7 junior, were recognized by the CCSA as the Pair of the Week for the 4th time in their occupations. They stand atNo 3 in CBVB’s positions of sets in theNo 1 trip, however likely have their job suitable them versus LSU’s top-ranked Ellie Shank and also Kylie Deberg.
Alvarez and also Moreno currently have actually shown the skill and also ability to represent their indigenous Spain on the global degree, having actually taken 4th in the European Championships in Munich last summertime, a competitors won by Latvia’s Tina Guardina (previous USC celebrity) and also Anastasija Samoilova, the fourth-place finishers in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
“I’m really excited for our girls to play LSU, particularly Daniela and Tania, because that is going to be a great match for them. That should be a really high level of beach volleyball,” Gutierrez claimed. “Finishing fourth in the European Championships, [while] playing for the first time, was a huge accomplishment. No one expected that [as the No. 17 seed], but things just clicked. Now we’re seeing that here, a different level of confidence. Something changed last summer. Before they knew they could do well, but now Daniela and Tania are realizing just how well they can do with time.”
Big NCAA beach weekend break
Five “name” volleyball programs will certainly sign up with host Hawaii for the Queen’s Cup round-robin competitors Friday with Sunday on Queen’s Beach inHonolulu The No. 9-ranked San dBows (7-3),No 11 Cal (6-2),No 14 Washington (4-4), Texas (making its program launching for Coach Erik Sullivan), Nebraska (7-1) and also Oregon (2-7) will certainly fight in 15 suits over the 3 days. Familiar encounters on the lineup that added to Texas’ 2022 NCAA interior title group are Asjai O’Neal, Madisen Skinner, Molly Phillips, Emma Halter and also Keonlei Akana.
Led by AVCA/CBVB National Pair of the Week Megan Kraft and also Delaynie Maples,No 2-ranked USC (6-0) will certainly hold an area of the Battle forLos Angeles Invitational The dual safeguarding NCAA champ Women of Troy leapt 2 places in the AVCA survey after covering 4 placed Pac -12 adversaries last weekend break, consisting of a 3-2 triumph over archrival and afterwards-No 1 UCLA. Also on the sand in Merle Norman Stadium on Saturday and also Sunday will certainly beNo 7 Stanford (9-3),No 16 Long Beach State (2-6), Concordia-Irvine (4-6) and also Cal Poly (2-9 while playing a complicated routine).
Third- placed UCLA (9-1) will certainly hold an additional Battle for Los Angeles area atMapes Beach No. 6 Grand Canyon (6-2),No 13 Florida Atlantic (7-1) Long Beach and also Cal Poly likewise will certainly play in 6 suits at the location in Sunset Canyon on Saturday and alsoSunday Florida Atlantic’s Julie Honzovicova and also Ashleigh Adams were simply recognized as Conference United States’s Pair of the Week.
No 12 Stetson (5-3) leads the area in the Carolina Challenge in Columbia,South Carolina The Hatters– coming off weekend break losses to placed Florida State, Grand Canyon and also Georgia State– in addition toNo 19 South Carolina (5-4), Tulane (6-1) Stephen F. Austin (1-7) and also UNC-Wilmington (1-0) will certainly merge Friday and also Saturday on the Gamecocks’ Wheeler Beach center.
No 17 Pepperdine (3-1) will certainly play 4 suits in its Malibu Invitational, which runs Friday withSunday Also contending areNo 18 Arizona (5-2), North Florida (5-3), UAB (5-4) and also San Francisco (0-5).
On Wednesday in Atlanta,No 6 Georgia State held its Day of Duels that consisted of fourth-ranked Florida State,No 20 Coastal Carolina and alsoMercer Sun Belt Conference Pair of the Week Destiny White and also Aliisa Vourinen proceeded their efficient play in the 5th trip as the Sandy Panthers covered Coastal Carolina 4-1, winning their suit versus Emma Gonzales-Lucy Campbell 21-11, 21-15. But after that Georgia State was buzzsawed by FSU (12-1), with every trip won in a move by the Seminoles, that likewise logged 5-0 success versus Mercer and alsoCoastal Carolina The Sandy Panthers (8-3) blanked Mercer, and also the Chanticleers (6-5) likewise covered the Bears (0-11) 3-2.
Pro beach hits Miami
The initially competition in the cutting-edge Queen & & King of the Court collection onMiami Beach opens up with credentials rounds in both sexes onThursday Some acquainted names in the “Q” consist of Americans Hagen Smith-Billy Kolinske, Kyle Friend-Timothy Brewster, Megan Rice-Ann Osborn, too the duo of Josh Binstock of Canada and also Dave Palm of the United States.
The primary draw accelerates in earnest onFriday Of utmost passion will certainly be just how well beach tale and also three-time Olympic gold champion Kerri Walsh Jennings, recovering at age 44, looks while teaming with energetic minerZana Muno In the five-team Group C with Kerri and also Muno are Canadian Olympians Brandie Wikerson and also Melissa Humana-Parades Group A functions Americans Kelly Reeves-Jessica Gaffney, while Group B consists of Americans Corinne Quiggle-Sarah Schermerhorn, Brazilian experts using Orlando Larissi-Lili and also the McNamara doubles (Nicole and also Megan) from Canada.
The guys’s area on Miami Beach is highlighted by the brand-new American set of Tri Bourne and also Chaim Schalk in Group A; timeless Phil Dalhausser and also brand-new companion Troy Field, and also Italian experts Daniele Lupo and also Enrico Rossi in Group B; and also Americans Taylor Sander-Taylor Crabb and also the incredible duo from Qatar, Cherif Samba and also Amad Tijan, in Group C.
To comply with the Queen & & King of the Court Miami Beach competitors, go to: https://kingofthecourt.com/events/miami-beach-2023.
Next weekend break on Miami Beach (March 16-19), the AVP Tour opens its period with a Pro Series occasion. A substantial enigma was addressed on Wednesday by the trip’s proprietor, Bally’s Corp., when cash prize of $62,500 in each draw was exposed 8 days out of the occasion. The Pro Series brought the very same payments in 2022. The 3 competitions in the top Gold Series will certainly have bags of $150,000 per sex and also the 4 third-tier Tour Series will certainly pay $25,000, every one of which mirror last period.
TV/streaming has yet to be revealed.
Entries in the AVP Miami Beach quit likewise struck Wednesday, with numerous significant noninclusions, mainly since the global Beach Pro Tour competition in La Paz, Mexico, will certainly be used the very same weekend break.
The AVP ladies’s access are covered by Sarah Sponcil-Terese Cannon, Betsi Flint-Julia Scoles, Wilkerson and also Humana-Paredes, Larissa-Lili and also Geena Urango-Carly Skjodt The guys’s draw looks a little bit deeper. It consists of the Taylors (Crabb and also Sander), Dalhausser-Field, Chase Budinger-Miles Evans, Billy Allen-Andy Benesh and also Jeremy Casebeer-Seain Cook
The Volleyball World Challenge- degree tourney in La Paz lugs bags of $75,000 in each draw. Nine ladies’s groups from the United State have actually struck the entrance listing, consisting of heated Kelly Cheng-Sara Hughes, fast-rising Taryn Kloth-Kristen Nuss (included today on SANDCAST), Megan Kraft-Emily Stockman, Hayley Harwood-Kelly Kolinske and also Quiggle-Schermerhorn Four American duos are noted in the guys’s draw: Bourne-Schalk, Theo Brunner-Trevor Crabb, Evan Corey-Logan Webber and also Smith-Kolinske
Freelance reporter Larry Hamel is a previous Sunday sporting activities editor for the Chicago Sun-Times and also creator and also train of the Gold Coast Spikers beach-volleyball training program. Hamel stays in Chicago and also plays both interior and also beach volleyball.
