Good morning, beach volleyball fans,
For the longest time, I have called Aurora Davis the Supermom of the beach volleyball world. She's the mother of what must be a dozen kids by this point, and will casually nurse between matches of a tournament she'd eventually win. The sport, of course, is full of Supermoms -- Kerri Walsh Jennings won a few Olympic golds as a mom, Monika Paulikiene travels with her children to tournaments, and she just won a silver in Tlaxcala a few weeks ago; the list goes on.
Betsi Flint has long been a Supermom, one of the best American defenders who also happened to have an energetic toddler/kid in Cora. But what she did on Saturday was certified Supermom badassery: Less than a year after having a second kid, Betsi and Kylie Deberg won four straight matches to punch their ticket into the 2026 AVP League.
How'd the upset over top-seeded Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft end? A Betsi Flint ace, of course.
So awesome.
I have plenty more, both on audio -- listen here -- and video -- watch here -- and written, on the AVP League qualifier, including:
- Paul Lotman has entered Ageless status, as he and Miles Partain blasted their way into the AVP League with somewhat shocking ease.
- It was the day of 15 seeds, and upsets in general, as both 15 seeds topped the 2 in the opening round. Jacob Labouliere is one of those 15 seeds, and he might be the best blocking prospect we've seen since Andy Benesh.
- Evan Cory and Derek Bradford made a convincing case for an at-large bid as an eight seed making the finals, with a win over Chase Budinger and Miles Evans.
Speaking of Miles Evans...
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This week featured Miles Evans, one of the more underappreciated players of this current generation, an Olympian, Manhattan Beach Open champion, Hermosa Open winner -- what else do we need from the guy? Fun episode with Miles and Tri Bourne:
News Around the Beach
- Volleyball for Dummies is officially out! Since June, I've been working on a book with our good friend Gabby Reece Volleyball for Dummies. You can now pre-order your copy today over at Barnes and Noble! It has been an absolute blast to write, as it covers both indoor and beach, and I for one am fired up about it. I ain't too proud to beg, sweet darlin', for you to pre-order your copy today.
- Hamburg is officially back on the Beach Pro Tour schedule. The sport is so much better with Hamburg on the schedule, one of the few legitimate "majors" in the sport of beach volleyball. Dates are August 5-9.
- AVP League Qualifiers continue Saturday. Pull up a chair and get to Manhattan Beach -- or just pull up Beach Volleyball Media and Bet The Beach, who are streaming the event on YouTube. 16 teams, single-elim, winner punches their ticket to the League. Intense. Miles Evans spoke to the high-stakes nature of them on the pod.
- Don't say don't. As I learn more about coaching, I'm going to be writing about what I'm learning. This week: Why I am trying to rid the word "don't" from my vocabulary as a coach. Read the reflection here.
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The NCAA Beach Volleyball report, Week 6.
- This weekend belonged to Texas. A week after the Pavelkova twins won a gold medal on the Beach Pro Tour, they returned to help Texas land massive wins over UCLA and USC, at home. Even though the Longhorns lost to No. 2 Stanford, it doesn't do anything to diminish what was a huge weekend, which also included a win over Long Beach State.
- South Carolina got its first big win in the Jose Loiola era. The Gamecocks upset Arizona State, who has had a tough stretch since beginning 10-0. It's a big win for South Carolina, who certainly passed the eye test as well.
- We won a rubber match over TCU. Our first and only loss came to TCU at home a month or so ago. We've since won the next two, including a 3-2 barnburner in Dallas. The win pushes us to 22-1 as we head into a home weekend, where we'll see LMU twice. Should be a fun test against the eighth-seeded Lions.
- A bunch of other stuff happened, and you can find all the scores at CollegeVB.com, who is doing the Lord's work for the sport.
- Watch SANDCAST Episodes Early! Become a member of our YouTube Channel and you'll get every piece of content days or weeks or, now, months, even, before anybody else. You can already watch this week's with LJ Luciano, which dives deep into the massive new complex in Austin, and how everything, even beach volleyball, is bigger in Texas.
- Coming up on Wednesday we have LJ mentioned above.
Much Love to the sponsors
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Appreciate y'all for listening, reading, and loving the beach like we do.
Have a great week!
SHOOTS!
SANDCAST Team
