Good morning, beach volleyball fans,
This weekend was complete and utter chaos in the beach volleyball world, but I'd like to pause here for a moment and state one objective fact: No drama on the sand, this weekend or the next, can rival that of the Masters. Watching that on the flight home from Cal Poly -- more on that in a sec -- was as thrilling sports theater as I can remember watching. My heart is happy for Rory McIlroy, and all seems right in the golf world.
And all is, predictably, chaos in the beach volleyball world.
Three levels of the game were competing this weekend: NCAA, where Cal Poly hosted a who's-who of beach volleyball powers; Beach Pro Tour, which descended upon my favorite sleepy Brazilian surf town in Saquarema for an Elite16; and the AVP, which hosted its first of two single-elimination qualifiers for the 2025 League in Huntington Beach. Three different formats, too: a team best of five, a 24-team pool play into a strange single-elim but not quite single-elim format, and three sets to 15.
Megan Rice and Corinne Quiggle sealed up their bid into the 2025 League on a pair of aces from Rice, while Hagen Smith and Logan Webber made surprisingly quick work of an elite field, sweeping all four of their matches.
In Brazil, Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher won their second straight medal, a silver, while Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw took another fourth, their second straight finish just off the podium. Anders Mol and Christian Sorum look awfully good under new coach Adrian Carambula, whacking Sweden in the finals to win their first event of the season.
Good as all those medals look, though, few things look brighter than the young marriage of volleyball power couple James and Molly Shaw.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This past week's podcast featured James Shaw and Molly Shaw, USA Volleyball's new powerhouse couple who are making Elite16 Sundays and putting some bright new faces on the federation. Really fun episode with those two and Tri Bourne:
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.
Film Room: Shaw-Schalk vs. Sweden
Film Room returned, as I broke down James Shaw and Chaim Schalk's stunner over Sweden's David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig. Looking to do more of these after NCAA season winds down.
Photo Galleries!
We have more photo galleries this week.
News Around the Beach
- The AVP gave out one more wild card. Phil Dalhausser and Trevor Crabb are straight into the 2025 League, which makes a lot of sense.
- 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 either another solo episode breaking down everything that happened this weekend -- the more newsy episodes seem to be quite popular -- or Lila Tucker. We'll see how much time I have with the kids' naps today.
Much Love to the sponsors
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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
