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AVP/FIVB Beach Volleyball, anyone?


wood

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  • 1 month later...

Field/Budinger looks interesting...

That's a new pairing, right?

ETA: Yep. I like their chances. Wonder how Nick will do without Phil. And big Ed Ratledge just keeps on coming back with his long-ass arms...

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
5 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said:

Nope, they didn’t renew or something. Bally’s should have coverage for the bigger tourneys later. 

Cool. Thanks for the bracket link. First 3 matches on ct. 2 on Friday have some potential.  

Weird how they didn't list the 1st round matches in order by start time (Match 4 starts before matches 1-3, etc).

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So, rain all tonight & tomorrow, followed by 98 on Friday, 99 Saturday, and 97 Sunday.

Lovely.

I've always wanted to see how these west coast boys would handle some real Austin heat. Guess we're gonna find out.

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No real stadium court this year. Just a small bleacher along one side of what was Court 1 last year. They are calling that stadium court. Then just two other courts besides that. Because $, I guess.

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The AVP is a mere shell of its past self, sadly. The sport isn't nearly as entertaining, at least on the men's side, as it was before the rules changed. Used to be so much more wide-open, with different ways to win. Now the sport's rules cater completely to the big men and the teams are so cookie-cutter. Short points. Few rallies. Rare comeback victories, etc, etc.

Don't get me wrong. I'll still go, because I love volleyball and the vibe, but the quality of the product is nowhere near what it once was.

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Yep. Very few real personalities. Very little agressive jumpserving because rally scoring combined with a small court.

The rule changes just took so much out of what used to be one of the best sports in the world. Fucking FIVB.

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Was referred over here from the UT Beach thread

2023 AVP schedule released today. 

https://avp.com/events/

I'm targeting Manhattan Beach, Chicago, and the Championship. Maybe one or two others. Hope the championship is outdoor this year. The Phoenix championship last year was done about as well as one could expect for an indoor event, but it was still beach vball indoors. Still think the teams w/ first rd byes were at a disadvantage with their opponents having already played a match in that space. 

Where are you guys going? Who are you following?

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2 drinks, lunch, & a snack! 

Quote

Miami Beach is Calling You!

In case you haven’t heard, the AVP is headed to the shores of Miami Beach to kick off our 2023 40th Anniversary Season. The tour’s biggest stars hit the sand on March 17-19 as part of Miami Beach Live’s month-long celebration!

*VIP Boxes start at $550, including 2 drink tickets per guest, a lunch and snack ticket, and an exclusive, elevated courtside view of Stadium Court.

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Welp. No Austin. Gotdammit.

On 2/3/2023 at 8:32 PM, BadgerHorn said:

Was referred over here from the UT Beach thread

2023 AVP schedule released today. 

https://avp.com/events/

I'm targeting Manhattan Beach, Chicago, and the Championship. Maybe one or two others. Hope the championship is outdoor this year. The Phoenix championship last year was done about as well as one could expect for an indoor event, but it was still beach vball indoors. Still think the teams w/ first rd byes were at a disadvantage with their opponents having already played a match in that space. 

Where are you guys going? Who are you following?

Hermosa.

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On 2/9/2023 at 10:55 PM, wood said:

Who I'm following: Taylor Crabb & Taylor Sander (two world class whips on those boys), Field & Budinger, Big Ed, Bomgren & Marciniak, Casebeer, Drost, Phil & Casey, 

My thoughts on the men's side:

Last year was kind of interesting with some of the bigs pairing up: Chase/Troy for the season and then Benesh/Dalhausser at one point (Austin iirc).  And on the other (smaller) end, you had the Taylors teaming up.  

The Bourne/Crabb/Brunner/Schalk switch will be interesting to watch.  I think Bourne/Schalk is the more successful duo going fwd, but I like Theo and betting against Trevor the past few yrs has been a bad decision.

Last I saw, Chase was teaming up with Miles Evans.  Not sure who Troy is going to end up with.

Benesh and Partain could be sleepers.  Andy seems to get overshadowed by some of the bigger name blockers in terms of hype, but he can hold his own.  And Miles is so good in so many areas.  If they can get the jump set down, they'll be winning a lot of tournaments.

Who I'm looking forward to following:

- The Taylors simply because of the highlight reel

- Partain because he's that good

- "[insert name] just because [insert name again]": Theo, Billy Allen, Bomgren, Casebeer, Ratledge

- Tri and Travis because of SandCast; briefly talked to them at Manhattan Beach and seem like cool guys

- Casey if he comes back for any events

 

My thoughts on the women's side:

I generally prefer watching the women's side [lets the jokes and jeers die down] because I still play and I just learn way more from them.  The guys are able to cover so much space, take chances, and then make up for mistakes by sheer size and freak athleticism.  I'm not 6'7" nor can I get my shoulders to the tape to hit/block - I can't replicate what the guys do on a men's net.  I can kind of do most of what the women do.

I'm a big Sarah Sponcil fan.  Her ability to move around the court and get to balls she has no business getting to is amazing; the last few years she's gotten much better at converting those digs into points on the offensive side.  You could see she and Terese Cannon were figuring things out most of the year - you'd have the really strong performances interspersed with "what the heck was that?" sets, strings of points where they weren't on the same page, or periods where T seemed to be lacking confidence in her passing or hitting.

I'd have to think the re-union of Cheng and Hughes makes them the favorite - so much talent on both offense and defense.

Who I'm looking forward to following:

- Sponcil because of the above

- Met Kloth and Nuss sitting on the courtside bench at Austin last year - both really sweet and super talented.  How Kristen Nuss can hit down on a ball is beyond me

- Kelley Kolinske - just makes everything seem so smooth/fluid; she's picking up an up and comer so we'll see how that works

- Zana because she seems like a mini Sponcil to me (even though they're listed as the same height) and she got Sarah Pavan to wear a bright pink tennis skirt at the championships last year

- Julia Scoles - another up and comer - interested to see what she can do this year with a new veteran partner

- Brandie and Mel Humana-Paredes would be my sleeper team on the women's side.

...oh and Six Feet of Sunshine is teaming up with Logan Tom for one last Olympic run.  Will April enter a tournament or two?  Should be a fun year.

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  • 1 month later...
Quote

Streaming on ESPN+ and Bally Live 
The Miami Beach Open begins now - time to tune in! 
 
Stadium Court will be livestreamed all weekend on ESPN+, found within the ESPN app. Download and start your free trial today!
 
Court 1 will air on Bally’s FREE watch and earn app: Bally Live – your new home for live sports! On Bally Live, the AVP has its own channel with nonstop beach volleyball. Chat with friends, join a watch party, and earn Bally Bucks, just for watching! (Make sure to download the app via mobile.)
 
If you can’t make it to the sand, we feel sorry for you. But you can still follow along all weekend to see who will claim the first AVP of our 40th Anniversary season!

I'm not gonna fuck with Bally Live just yet, but good to see ESPN+ has it now. 

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Random things  of interest I noticed on the Men's side: Trevor & Theo back in the draw. Phil & Drost this week, watch out for them. Allen & Field reunite. In the qualifier, Paulis & Samuels, Ratledge & Plummer, Del Sol & Prima ...

We're headed out to Huntington in a couple of weeks. Wish it could be this weekend!

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Here you go. Best defender out here in my opinion. I don't care what the scoreboard says. 

Noticing a couple of interesting body changes. Looks like a few shaved several lbs and others have been putting in work in the weightroom.  And there was one other body change that I wasn't aware of. 

IMG_0260.jpeg

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