Good morning, beach volleyball fans,
And greetings from…another Delta Lounge. This time I’m in Atlanta, writing the majority of this newsletter in the four-hour layover I have between my next flight, to Germany — update: I’m now editing this newsletter mid-flight, where wifi is still unbelievably a thing; it’s literal magic — where I’ll hop on another flight to Poland, where I’ll be picked up and taken to a bucket list stop on the Beach Pro Tour calendar: Ostrava.
Man, I’ve been wanting to see this tournament first-hand for a long time. Such a unique venue. Better yet, it’ll be home to my first in-person commentating week of the year, as I rejoin my good friends Kyle Friend and Frito to do all things beach volleyball media. It’ll be good fun.
Just as September 4-7 will be good fun, because once again, Mark Paaluhi has done it: He has kept professional beach volleyball in Hermosa Beach.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This past week’s podcast featured Mark Paaluhi, our 2024 Man of the Year in beach volleyball who is not only bringing back the Hermosa Open for another year in 2025, but signed a three-year deal with the city and its presenting sponsor, Wedbush Securities, to keep professional beach volleyball in Hermosa through 2027. Epic. We chat all about that, and the direction(s) the game is headed, for better or worse, on this week’s podcast:
Photo Galleries!
We have more photo galleries this week.
News Around the Beach
- Jose Loiola is headed to South Carolina. The longtime coach and second-year assistant at UCLA will be the new head man at South Carolina, taking over for Moritz Moritz. What an excellent hire.
- AVP/NCAA Palm Beach. Palm Beach hosted the first contender event on the AVP calendar this weekend, which, on the women’s side, was effectively NCAA Palm Beach, with how many NCAA teams and players made it through the qualifier. It finished as such, with USC’s Kennedy Coakley and Ashley Pater winning without dropping a set. For the men, Theo Brunner and Ryan Wilcox, though they no doubt preferred to be playing in the League instead, took home the Dub, beating the surprisingly scrappy Rowdy Lennon and Logan Mister in the finals.
- 2025 AVP League debuts in Palm Beach. The results as of this writing are not listed on the website, nor, still, are the rosters (you can find them here), so I couldn’t tell you what’s happened there, only that volleyball was played. Here’s my preview of each team heading into the 2025 season and year two of the League.
- Ostrava Elite16 begins this week. Miles Partain and Andy Benesh are the lone main draw entrant for USA Volleyball, although Chaim Schalk and James Shaw are mighty close, No. 1 in the qualifier. No other USA men are signed up. Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth are the one seed for the women, with Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft No. 3, Kelly Cheng and Molly shaw No. 6, and Kim Hildreth and Teegan Van Gunst No. 14. In the qualifier are Jaden Whitmarsh and Devon Newberry, Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg, Toni Rodriguez and Kylie DeBerg, Deahna Kraft and Xolani Hodel, and Molly Phillips and Hailey Harward. Here’s the men’s entry list. And here is the full women’s entry list.
- 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.
- 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 Alvaro Filho and Cesar Benatti, doing a deep dive into Brazilian beach volleyball greatness, coaching, parenting, and more. Awesome, AWESOME episode.
Where You Can Follow The Pod
- We’re essentially working to become the new VolleyballMag. A big part of that is building a Facebook presence, so we’re building a page. Would be awesome if you could follow us there!
- Spotify, obviously. Linked below
Much Love to the sponsors
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: sandcastpod-20 for 20 PERCENT OFF.
Watch VBTV for 10 percent off using our discount code, SANDCAST10.
We’ve got SANDCAST merch! Get yourself some swag.
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! 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
