Beach Volleyball Digest: Gold for Scoles, Flint at NORCECA Continental Champs
Two tournaments have Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles played in their new partnerships, and two finals have they made.
The first came last weekend at the Volleyball World Torquay Elite 16, which concluded on December 3. They left Australia with silver medals, and one of the longest possible itineraries ahead of them, to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, for the NORCECA Continental Championships.
Whatever jet lag there may have been for the two, it didn’t show, as Flint and Scoles won all five matches without dropping a set, sweeping Puerto Rico’s Allanis Navas and Maria Gonzalez, 21-16, 21-19 to win gold.
“It’s exciting winning the gold,” Flint told NORCECA. “It was a battle of who was going to be better in the win and we are excited to get this experience together as a team; and just put the pressure on them.”
Small as the event may have been — just 12 teams competed, due mostly to the last minute arrangement of the Championships — the finish is a massive one for both, and particularly Scoles. The 800 points awarded to the team — the equivalent of winning a Volleyball World Challenge event — mark the second-best finish for Scoles, and the fourth for Flint. While it won’t immediately help Flint’s points, it will serve as a bottom-holder of sorts when she loses her gold medal — and 600 points — finish at the Hamburg Elite 16.
Bronze went to the new Canadian pairing of Amanda Harnett and Marie-Alex Belanger, who came back to beat Mexico’s Atenas Gutierrez and Abril Flores, 18-21, 21-10, 17-15.
On the men’s side, Canadians Sam Schachter and Dan Dearing finished their debut season in style, winning their first medal as a team and making it a gold one at that. Their route was not an easy one, requiring wins against Americans Chaim Schalk and Theo Brunner in the semifinals, and Cubans Noslen Diaz and Jorge Alayo in the final. The gold medal match was actually rematch of a pool play bout, where Cuba, who medaled in all four NORECECAs they played this season, swept the Canadians.
“It was very difficult and exciting, Cuba is extremely talented,” Schachter told NORCECA. “I’m so blessed to have such a talented partner that did so well and steady the entire time. It was windy out here and the conditions were difficult to play in, the level was very high.”
The points bump for the Canadians is significant, marking their best finish of the season by a wide margin. They are now ranked No. 36 in the world. Schalk and Brunner, who won bronze, beating Mexico’s top pair of Juan Virgen and Miguel Sarabia, are No. 21, and while bronze isn’t what they went to Punta Cana for, it is their first and only medal of the 2022 season. The 720 points they earned as a team will be used for their entry ranking entering 2023 and the onset of Olympic qualifying.
Thailand, Philippines dominate Subic Bay Futures
The penultimate event of Volleyball World’s debut season — yes, there is still one more tournament to go, a Futures in The Hague on New Year’s Eve — came to a close this weekend with the conclusion of the Subic Bay Futures, and the podiums were heavy on Thailand (for the men) and the Philippines (for the women). The men’s gold medal match was an all-Thai one, and Poravid Taovato and Pithak Tipjan defeated countrymen Dunwinit Kaewsai and Intuch Techakjvorakul. Notably in bronze was Latvian Olympian Martins Plavins and his new partner, Mihails Samoilovs, younger brother of Aleksandrs Samoilovs and also the husband of Anatasija Samoilova. It marks the first medal of Samoilovs’ career.
The women’s final was also a bit of a Civil War, this one an all-Philippines gold medal match, with Jovelyn Gonzaga and Cherry Rondina beating Genesa Eslapor and Floremel Rodriguez. In bronze were Japanese qualifiers Miyu Sakamoto and Mayu Sawame.
AVP opening awards to van votes
The AVP has opened up its post-season awards to the opinions of the fans. You can go to Bally’s Play and cast your vote for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Best Defensive Player, Offensive Player of the Year, and Team of the Year.
We published our awards after the conclusion of the Phoenix Gold Series Championships. You can find the men’s list here, and the women here.
Maddison McKibbin, Chelsea Hayes welcome Milo
Beach volleyball digital- and social-media icon Maddison McKibbin and his wife, Chelsea Hayes, welcomed their son, Milo Ander McKibbin, to the world last Monday. Milo will join his cousin, Storm, daughter of Riley McKibbin and Carli Lloyd, as the next generation of McKibbins.
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