Good morning, beach volleyball fans,
Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher have been big into new jewelry additions as of late. Both rock Olympic rings necklaces. Brasher, as you can no doubt surmise by her new last name, has added a nice new wedding ring to her ring finger, and Nuss -- soon to be Mrs. Cruz to you -- is rocking an engagement ring.
Now, after Sunday's gold medal win over Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti at the Brasilia Elite16, they have a medal of every color dangling from their necks in 2025 alone.
It's hard to imagine a better start for them, or for the men's winners, Yorick de Groot and Stefan Boermans, who were on life support just to break pool -- Carol and Rebecca actually got brought back to life, thanks to the bizarre new format at Elites -- and continued winning somewhat ugly, all the way to a gold medal. It capped a thrilling day Sunday, in which four of the six matches went to three and the one that didn't was decided by two points in both sets.
Beach volleyball is fun again, and shout-out to the Brazilian crowd who always delivers a rollocking environment. Because yesterday was Easter, I opted to hang out with my family and my adopted family, Nick Lucena and Brooke Niles and their three boys, rather than record a recap from the weekend. But this past week's podcast was another in what seems to be a popular edition of the show, just me chatting the previous weekend's events.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This past week's podcast was another solo episode from yours truly, chatting the Saquarema Elite16, the first AVP qualifier, NCAA regular season winding down, and more:
Our New Docuseries is Here!
Long has the discussion been that beach volleyball needs a docuseries.
That docuseries is here.
Daniel Freitas, our resident videographer, took the bull by its metaphorical horns and launched our new series, Beyond the Sand, on Friday. The reaction thus far has been AWESOME. Here is the trailer, if you want to get a briefer.
The next episode is scheduled for after the Huntington Beach Heritage event.
Photo Galleries!
We have more photo galleries this week.
News Around the Beach
- Santa Monica spurned the Olympics. But Long Beach is picking up the slack. No Ferris Wheel will be on display during the 2028 LA Games, but I think Long Beach will due a decent job. Honestly, just relieved they didn't put it in a tennis center or an arena; let's keep beach volleyball a beach sport.
- My son turned two this weekend. I reflected on being a dad of two, and how it has led to the death of any and all personal ambition for ambition's sake.
- The second AVP qualifier is this weekend at Newland Street in Huntington Beach. The AVP is likely streaming on their YouTube again, and the brackets and scoring can be found at VolleyballLife.com. The women's field will be loaded, with the return of Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw and Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft.
- We now have an ad free tier for audio. Tired of listening to ads? I saw a bunch of comments on the ad frequency in Rogan podcasts, and figured I'd give our listeners an ad-free option. For 5 bucks a month, you no longer have to listen to ads, and you support the show. Win win. Here's the link where you can become a patron.
- FSU Camps coming this summer! We're running a camp on July 12, followed by a BVNE tournament the next day. Should be awesome. Sign up here.
- Watch SANDCAST Episodes Early! Become a member of our YouTube Channel and you'll get every piece of content days before anybody else.
- Coming up on Wednesday we have Silila Tucker, who sits down with Tri Bourne to chat beach volleyball, and his new venture in life. Any time hanging with Lila is the best time, and I wish I were in the studio to hang for this one.
Much Love to the sponsors
Watch VBTV for 10 percent off using our discount code, SANDCAST10.
We've got SANDCAST merch! Get yourself some swag.
We've been with Wilson Volleyball since day one, and we love the products they make -- the best ball on the market, hands down, no questions asked. Use our discount code: SANDCASTVB for 20 PERCENT OFF.
SANDCAST adds another year with AG1. One of our longest-running sponsors, AG1, is back on the pod for another year. We've re-signed with the brand, and have changed our model with them, to a fully affiliate-model. So if you want to stay healthy AND help the show, please order with this link, which comes with a full year of Vitamin D for FREE, as well as five totally FREE travel packs!
We're officially partnered with Better at Beach! Don't know how this took so long, seeing the massive overlap between our audiences. So if you want to get Better at Beach, use our code SANDCAST for 10 percent off all of their products, from online classes to in-person camps and more.
Appreciate y'all for listening, reading, and loving the beach like we do.
Have a great week!
SHOOTS!
SANDCAST Team
