Cuba, Sweden, and why pool play must go
Cuba didn’t deserve that. Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz became the story of beach volleyball in these Olympic Games when they not only upset their way to a Pool D win but looked very much the part of the favorites to do so, sweeping Andy Benesh...
Olympics volleyball: “Gritty not pretty” USA women sweep France; men to face Brazil
A happy USA team after beating France/FIVB photo PARIS — You want pretty? They’d rather be gritty. And that is the USA women’s volleyball team in a nutshell at the Paris Olympics, as the Americans finished pool play with a sweep — not an easy sweep, by any...
Benesh-Partain issue statement after splitting with coach Mike Placek
One of the strangest, and most unexpected, storylines of the Paris Olympic Games is the abrupt split of Andy Benesh and Miles Partain and their coach, Mike Placek. This past Wednesday, early in Benesh and Partain’s final round of pool play — an eventual three-set win...
“We get another shot.” Budinger-Evans move into Olympic beach playoffs vs. Norway
Less than a week prior to leaving for the Paris Olympic Games, Chase Budinger was laughing about the way the beach volleyball scheduling can tend to go. Occasionally, you’ll see the same team, over and over and over again, to a comical degree — see:...
USA men go 3-0 in Paris Olympics volleyball pool play with 4-set win over Japan
The USA men after beating Japan/FIVB photo PARIS — No five-setter this time. No, the USA men late on Friday night won the first two sets against a remarkably scrappy Japan team, lost the third, but closed it out in four to finish 3-0 in Pool C. It...
Olympics volleyball: Slovenia men tops France; schedule, standings
Slovenia’s Jan Kozamernik goes over the French block/FIVB photo PARIS — A sold-out, predominantly French crowd had South Paris Arena 1 rocking Friday as Le Bleu rallied against Slovenia in men’s Olympic volleyball. But Slovenia came away with a five-set victory by scoring the last four points. That...
Olympics beach volleyball: Budinger-Evans lose, but willl still move on
Pablo Herrera blocks Chase Budinger/FIVB photo The 40 or so minutes in which Chase Budinger and Miles Evans played Spain’s Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera in their final match of pool play was, for all intents and purposes, a 40-minute plea for help. After opening the Paris...
LeBron James cheers on Nuss-Kloth as they hold off China in the rain
Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss finished their victory before just a handful of observers/Lee Feinswog photo LeBron James stayed. The other 12,000 who had previously packed into Eiffel Tower Stadium for the nightcap beach volleyball match, between Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth and China’s Chen Xue and...
Benesh-Partain “found our mojo again” in crucial Paris volleyball win over Brazil
It didn’t take long to see a clear shift from Andy Benesh and Miles Partain. After a sluggish start to these Olympic Games — a listless sweep at the hands of Cuba and a bizarrely close match against Morocco — they opened Thursday afternoon’s match against...
5 alive: USA women grind to Paris Olympics volleyball victory over Serbia
Chiaka Ogbogu goes over Serbia’s Maja Aleksic/FIVB photo PARIS — There is no rule that USA Volleyball teams have to go five in these Olympics. But … Monday, the USA women lost the first two sets to China and won the next two before losing in five. Tuesday, the...
Olympic Beach Volleyball: Cheng-Hughes sweep again to go 2-0 in Paris
Kelly Cheng goes up against France’s Akube Chamereau/FIVB photo Hostile was the expectation for the environment of Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes’ second match of pool play at these Paris Olympic Games. On Wednesday afternoon, Cheng and Hughes were matched up with France’s Aline Chamereau and...
Dana Rettke: The middle pioneering a new age of women’s volleyball
HERMOSA BEACH, California — Dana Rettke loathes the question. It’s not that it’s an unfair one, or even a bad question at all. It’s just that, when she’s asked — and she is always asked this question, by some media outlet at some event — who...
USA men hold on to clinch Paris Olympics volleyball quarterfinals bid
TJ DeFalco, Taylor Averill and Matt Anderson put up the triple block against Germany’s Gyorgy Gozer/FIVB photo PARIS — All things considered — and there was a lot to consider — the USA men will take it. And then some. In a match eerily similar to the one...
Olympics beach volleyball: Benesh-Partain defeat Morocco in bizarre sweep
Andy Benesh, Miles Partain survive Morocco scare There have been upsets during these Olympic Games and there have been commanding victories. But there has not been anything quite as bizarre in Paris — even the opening ceremonies didn’t reach this level of weird — as Andy...
China survives Drews, USA comeback for five-set Olympics volleyball victory
Annie Drews, left, and Haleigh Washington put up the block against China’s Zhu Ting/FIVB photo PARIS — A second Olympics volleyball reverse sweep of the day? The USA came so, so close. But just as the match did a 180 after two sets, it happened again in the...
Olympics beach volleyball: Budinger-Evans off to brilliant start in Paris
Brandi Wilkerson stuffs Paraguay’s Michelle Valiente of Paraguay/FIVB photo Chase Budinger, Miles Evans sweep France in dominant fashion It was worth wondering how Chase Budinger and Miles Evans would respond to it all. The media attention, the most Budinger has ever received in his now very well-documented...
Olympics beach: Kelly Cheng, Sara Hughes dominate first match of Paris
Sunset during the TKN match FIVB photo Kelly Cheng, Sara Hughes dominate Olympic opener Of course it ended the way it did. Eight times did the ball go over the net in the final rally of Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes’ opening match of Olympic pool play against...
Kiraly hopes USA women can follow men’s Olympics-opening volleyball lead
Karch Kiraly watches his team play the Netherlands earlier this month as assistant Alfee Reft talks to Chiaka Ogbogu/Andy J. Gordon photo PARIS — The USA men got off to a rousing volleyball start here, “coming out on fire and dropping the hammer on Argentina.” And, no,...
Aaron Russell, USA men sweep Argentina in Olympics volleyball opener
Aaron Russell blasts through the Argentina block/FIVB photo PARIS — Eight years is a long time. Especially in the life of a pro volleyball player. That wasn’t lost Saturday on Aaron Russell as he rode the USA team bus to its Olympics-opening match against Argentina. “My wife actually...
Incredibly athletic Tillie family looms large at Paris Olympics
Laurent Tillie, left, and Marv Dunphy PARIS — The most athletic volleyball family? It would be tough not to give the nod to the Tillies of France, who are well-represented at these Paris Olympics, and not just in men’s volleyball. Start with Laurent, the two-time French Olympian who...