Beach Update: Brewster/Friend Go for Second Straight NORCECA Title

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Oct. 6, 2022) – Tim Brewster and Kyle Friend will compete for a second straight gold medal this weekend at the NORCECA Managua beach event in Nicaragua.

Last week at NORCECA Punta Cana, Brewster/Friend did not lose a set en route to the gold medal, defeating Cubans Noslen Diaz/Jorge Luis Alayo 2-0 (21-16, 22-20) in the final. It was the first NORCECA victory for the pair.

This weekend, they join two other U.S. pairs in Managua: Paul Lotman/Raffe Paulis on the men’s side and Katie Lindstrom/Teegan Van Gunst on the women’s side.

Brewster/Friend were one of two U.S. pairs who won gold in Punta Cana. Maddie Anderson/Molly Turner lost just one set in the tournament and defeated Canadians Lea Monkhouse/Molley McBain 2-0, (21-17, 21-19) in the final.

Punta Cana was the second tournament win for Anderson/Turner this year. In July, they won the FIVB Ciro Marina Futures event in Anderson’s first tournament at the international professional level. Turner, meanwhile, now has four international medals (two FIVB, two NORCECA).

Pairs Elite 16

At the FIVB Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 in Paris last weekend, three U.S. women’s pairs finished in the top 10, led by Betsi Flint/Kelly Cheng’s fourth-place finish.

Flint/Cheng won their pool, then moved on to defeat World No. 1 Barbara/Carol (BRA) in the quarterfinals before dropping their semifinal match to eventual tournament winners and World No. 2 Katja Stam/Raisa Schoon of the Netherlands.

In the bronze-medal match, the Americans dropped a close 2-1 decision to World No. 3 Duda/Ana Patricia (BRA), 21-12, 13-21, 15-8.

“Fourth-place finish and hungry for more!” Cheng said on her Instagram page. “Excited to work on areas of growth in my game as I continue on this journey.”

Kristen Nuss/Taryn Kloth continued their string of top-10 finishes in their inaugural Beach Pro Tour season by tying for fifth in Paris. They finished second in their pool, with their only loss coming in a three-set battle against teammates Flint/Cheng. In the quarters, Nuss/Kloth fell to to Duda/Ana Patricia in three sets.

Emily Stockman/Megan Kraft also finished second in their pool but did not advance to the final phase. The pair won two qualification matches to get to the main draw and then opened pool play with a win over teammates Sarah Sponcil/Terese Cannon. Stockman/Kraft lost to Stam/Schoon, but also defeated Barbara/Carol. They finished tied for ninth overall.

Sponcil/Cannon finished tied for 13th after going 0-3 in pool play.

On the men’s side, Miles Evans/Andy Benesh won their first qualification match but lost the second.

Next up on the Beach Pro Tour series is the Challenge event in Maldives, Oct. 13-16. U.S. men’s current entries are Troy Field/Chase Budinger; Miles Partain/Andy Benesh; Adam Roberts/Cody Caldwell; Logan Webber/Evan Cory.

On the women’s side, U.S. current entries are Hailey Harward/Xolani Hodel; Emily Stockman/Megan Kraft; Zana Muno/Julia Scoles; Megan Gebhard/Jade Race; Sarah Schermerhorn/Corrine Quiggle; Jessica Gaffney/Savvy Simo; Violetta Slabakova/Katie Horton; Deahna Kraft/Allie Wheeler.