Survive and advance.
That’s what happens for a team coming out of the contenders bracket in beach volleyball. It’s a grind, trying to claw back into the winners’ bracket of a double-elimination tournament when a team is already playing with one loss.
Such is the scenario today for three pairs that have Hawaii ties in the AVP Tour’s Hawaii Open at Fort DeRussy.
On the men’s side, eighth-seeded Tri Bourne (AOP) and Trevor Crabb (Punahou) face sixth-seeded Reid Priddy-Ricardo Santos in a loser-out match at 10:20 a.m. After losing their first-round match Friday to Billy Allen-Stafford Slick, Bourne had 13 kills and Crabb 12 to eliminate Steven Irvin-John Schwengel 21-12, 21-16 later Friday.
On the women’s side, former Rainbow Wahine indoor All-American Emily Hartong will see a current U.S. teammate across the net for the second time in three days. Hartong and Geena Urango, seeded 16th, take on former SandBow All-American Karissa Cook and Jace Pardon, the sixth seeds, in today’s 9:15 a.m. elimination match. On Thursday, Hartong-Urango ousted former SandBow All-American Katie Spieler-Delaney Knudsen in the qualifying bracket.
Hartong, Cook and Spieler are part of the U.S. snow and ANOC World Beach Games teams.
On Friday, Hartong-Urango were swept by top-seeded and defending champion Alix Klineman-April Ross 21-14, 21-14. Hartong-Urango rebounded with a 21-19, 21-16 upset of No. 9 seed Caitlin Ledoux-Maria Clara Salgado, a match where Hartong had 13 kills with no errors, Urango had 17 kills and Ledoux 24 kills.
Cook-Pardon, sweeping their first-round opener 21-19, 22-20 against Amanda Dowdy-Amanda Quiggle, dropped their second-round match to third seeds Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan 21-12, 21-12
Second-seeded Taylor Crabb (Punahou) and Jake Gibb remain on a collision course with defending champions and top seeds Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, neither pair having dropped a set. Crabb-Gibb face No. 3 seeds Chase Budinger and Casey Patterson at 11:30 a.m. and Dalhausser-Lucena meet fourth-seeded Jeremy Casebeer and Chaim Schalk at 1:40 p.m.
Brothers Maddison and Riley McKibbin (both Punahou) are already done after two losses Friday, finishing in a tie for 13th. Riley McKibbin had 24 kills and 12 digs, but it was not enough in falling in the elimination match to Erik Beranek-Bill Kolinske, 32-30, 21-16.
The Association of Volleyball Professionals tour finale concludes Sunday. The women’s final is scheduled for 2 p.m., followed by the men’s final at 3:30 p.m.
