Four Wins for BNT as Beach Worlds Continue

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 11, 2022) – U.S. Beach National Team duos saw a strong second day of competition at the 2022 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships Saturday, winning four of five matches at the Foro Italico in Rome.

Kelly Cheng/Betsi Flint picked up their second win of the tournament, coming from behind to beat Esmee Bobner/Zoe Verge-Depre of Switzerland in three sets. The Swiss took the first set 17-21, but Cheng/Flint countered 21-16 in the second. In the third, the U.S. pair took leads of 10-6 and 12-8 before capping the frame at 15-12.

With the win, Cheng/Flint are 2-0 and tied for first in Pool E. They’ll close pool play against Sophie Bukovec/Brandie Wilkerson of Canada, who are also 2-0. Both teams have already clinched playoff spot.

Three teams won their first match of the tournament Saturday, Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb doing so in their Worlds opener. They faced Thailand’s Surin Jongklang/ Banlue Nakprakhongin, winning in two sets. They breezed through the first set but battled in the second before clinching the win, 2-0 (21-8, 21-19).

Kelley Kolinske/Sara Hughes and Chaim Schalk/Theo Brunner evened their tournament records at 1-1 by each posting strong two-set wins. Kolinske/Hughes beat Ariana Estefania Vilela Becerra/Karelys Simisterra Ortiz of Ecuador, 2-0 (21-13, 21-9), while Schalk/Brunner downed Mozambique’s Ainadino Martinho/Jorge Monjane, 2-0 (21-12, 21-15).

In their pool, Kolinske/Hughes are tied for first with one match remaining against 1-1 squad Maria Belen Carro Marquez de Acuna/Angela Lobato Herrero of Spain. Schalk/Brunner are tied for second in pool F and will face 2-0 Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner of Czech Republic in the pool finale.

Taylor Crabb/Taylor Sander are also 1-1 in pool play after falling to 2020 Olympic bronze medalists Cherif Younousse Samba/Ahmed Tijan of Qatar, 2-0 (21-14, 21-15). Ta. Crabb/Sander are tied for second in pool D with 0-2 pair Gonzalo Melgarejo/Roger Daniel Battilana Villamayor of Paraguay scheduled on Monday.

At the Beach World Championships, the top two pairs of each pool and the four best third-place finishers advance to a 32-team playoff bracket. The other eight third-place finishers will play for one of the final four playoff berths.

Five American pairs – Terese Cannon/Sarah Sponcil, Emily Day/Emily Stockman, Tr. Crabb/Bourne, Kolinske/Hughes and Flint/Cheng – will again compete on day three of the World Championships Sunday, June 12.

Every match at the 2022 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships is streamed live on VolleyballWorld.tv.