Pro beach volleyball: Budinger shines in Austin, 3 USA pairs in NORCECA semis
Chase Budinger won two of the three tournaments on the AVP Tour last season, and even with a new partner this year, he has continued winning.
Returning to the state where he began his NBA career, the former Houston Rockets forward and partner Troy Field — seeded fourth — secured a men’s semifinal berth in the AVP Pro Series Austin Open thanks to a 21-18, 21-14 upset victory Saturday over top-seeded Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb.
Second-seeded Andy Benesh and Olympic gold-medalist Phil Dalhausser — back for part of one more season — secured the other men’s semifinal berth. In the women’s bracket, Canadian Olympians Melissa Humana-Paredes Sarah Pavan rode their No. 1 seed into the semis, and USA Olympian Kelly Cheng and new partner Betsi Flint, seeded second, moved into the other semi.
Contenders-bracket quarterfinals begin at 9 a.m. Central Sunday, with the semis starting at 11:10 a.m. The women’s championship match starts at 2 p.m., and the men’s final is at 3 p.m.
Click here for the men’s results and schedule on BVBinfo.com, and here for the women’s results schedule on BVBinfo.com.
Saturday’s Notable Results
Men
(4) Chase Budinger/Troy Field def. (1) Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb, 21-18, 21-14
(2) Andy Benesh/Phil Dalhausser def. (3) Theo Brunner/Chaim Schalk, 21-17, 21-14
Women
(1) Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan def. (4) Sara Hughes/Kelley Kolinske, 21-18, 21-16
(2) Kelly Cheng/Besti Flint def. (3) Terese Cannon/Sarah Sponcil, 21-16, 13-21, 15-12
Sunday’s Key Matches
Women’s contenders’ bracket quarterfinals — (4) Sara Hughes/Kelley Kolinske vs. (6) Taryn Kloth/Kristen Nuss, (3) Terese Cannon/Sarah Sponcil vs. (5) Emily Day/Emily Stockman
Women’s semifinals — (2) Kelly Cheng/Betsi Flint vs. TBD, Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan vs. TBD
Men’s contenders-bracket quarterfinal — (1) Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb vs. (7) Taylor Crab/Taylor Sander, (3) Theo Brunner/Chaim Schalk vs. (8) John Hyden/Logan Webber
Men’s semifinals — (2) Andy Benesh/Phil Dalhausser vs. TBD, (4) Chase Budinger/Troy Field vs. TBD
NORCECA — In Varadao, Cuba, Americans Travis Mewhirter and Tim Brewster, Michael Boag and Hagen Smith and Allie Wheeler and Iya Lindahl are all in their respective semifinals.
The bad news for the USA men is they play each other in the semifinals.
Mewhirter and Brewster swept their quarterfinal match against Peruvians Rivera and Encarnacion 21-18, 21-14.
Boag and Smith beat Canadians Liam Kopp and Reka 21-17, 19-21, 12-15 in the quarterfinals.
Wheeler and Lindahl swept their quarterfinal match against the Mexican pair of Flores and Albarran 21-14, 21-15 in just 26 minutes. They play a pair from Guatemala in the semis.
DOHA — The medal matches in the Volleyball World Challenge are set.
Poland’s Michal Bryl and Bartosz Losiak play Italians Samuela Cottafava and Paolo Nicolai for the gold and Austrians Martin Ermacora and Moritz Pristauz face Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot of the Netherlands for the bronze.
On the women’s side, the gold is a match between Brazilians Carolina Salgado and Barbara Seixas against Germans Chantel Labourer and Sarah Schulz. Australians Mariafe Artachio and Taliqua Clancy plays the Swiss pair of Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli for the bronze.
Americans Corinne Quiggle and Sarah Schermerhorn tied for ninth and took home $2,500.
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