OSTRAVA, Czechia — The first time could have been considered, not necessarily a fluke, but perhaps a matter of setting and circumstance. Two weeks ago in Huntington Beach, Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan were wild-carded into the AVP Huntington main draw. Many justifiably considered the rest of that tournament to be a race for second place, presuming Cherif and Ahmed would win, with perhaps a small bit of resistance from the American men, but not enough to actually take out the two-time Olympic semifinalists and world No. 8.
And all those making that assumption were wrong.
For there were Crabb and Benesh, sweeping Qatar, 21-18, 21-18, en route to their first AVP title as a team.
And there they both were again, matched up once more in the second round of pool play at this week’s Ostrava Elite. And there were Crabb and Benesh again, taking out second-seeded Cherif and Ahmed, 16-21, 22-20, 15-11, on the back of four blocks and five aces from Benesh and another two aces from Crabb.
The win guaranteed Crabb and Benesh a berth into the playoffs, regardless of their final match, against Latvia’s Ardis Bedritis and Arturs Rinkevics, which they’d win easily, 21-14, 21-16 to claim the top spot in pool. But beyond the pool win, it solidified Crabb and Benesh’s surefire legitimacy as a world-class team. Already, in just four-and-a-half events as a team, Crabb and Benesh have beaten world No. 1 Jacob Holting-Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, beaten Cherif and Ahmed twice, won a bronze medal in an Elite and won an AVP title.
USA Volleyball, searching for a year for a team who could regularly contend with the top beach volleyball teams in the world, has found its pair.
Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft finished pool play undefeated once more/Volleyball World photo
Perfection continues for Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft, Kristen Cruz and Taryn Brasher
Kelly Cheng and Megan Kraft might only have one medal to show for it thus far in the 2026 beach volleyball season, but they continued their perfect play in pool play, finishing 3-0 in Ostrava with a sweep win over world No. 1 Carol and Rebecca of Brazil, 21-16, 21-15. In all six tournaments the Americans have played thus far — three AVPs, three Beach Pro Tour — they’ve suffered just a single loss.
In the last two Elites, in Saqaurema and Brasilia, those losses have come in the first round, resulting in a pair of ninths that belied how well they played in the first two days of the tournament. It seems only a matter of time before the breakthrough comes. The question, then, is will it be in Ostrava?
Equally perfect in pool play have been Kristen Cruz and Taryn Brasher, although their run of perfection has extended all the way to a pair of gold medals, in Joao Pessoa and Saquarema. Like Cheng and Kraft, they, too, finished 3-0 without a single blip, sweeping Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon on Friday morning for their 17th straight win.
In Yorick de Groot and Steven van de Velde, a new power arrives
You’re welcome to call it the honeymoon phase, as that could very well be what we’ve witnessed from Yorick de Groot and Steven van de Velde the past two days, but this much is clear: The ceiling for the Netherlands’ new No. 1 duo knows few bounds at present moment.
Their first two wins, over Marco and Esteban Grimalt, and Jakub Sepka and Matyas Dzavoronok, were mostly expected, and indeed they came in sweeps.
But a dominating, 21-13, 21-17 over world No. 1 Jacob Holting-Nilsson and Elmer Andersson?
That one raises the eyebrows.
Holting-Nilsson could do little against the block of van de Velde, who racked up seven in the victory — one shy of de Groot’s total digs — along with two aces. It was, suffice it to say, a convincing win over a team who has made back-to-back finals and replaced David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig for world No. 1.
Czech men go perfect 3-for-3 in advancing into playoff rounds
It has been since… never that the Czech men have advanced three teams this far into the playoff rounds of their home event, and yet, even in the wake of the pseudo-retirement of Ondrej Perusic, they have put on their finest performance yet.
Perusic himself was the second to punch his ticket, with a convincing rout of the Capogrosso brothers (21-17, 21-9) alongside Jiri Sedlak to move into the round of 16. He followed the tremendous efforts of his old partner, David Schweiner, who with Tadeas Trousil engineered an upset over France’s Calvin Aye and Remi Bassereau (21-18, 17-21, 15-10) with six blocks from Schweiner.
Rounding out the effort were qualifiers Jakub Sepka and Matyas Dzavoronok, who survived a battle with the Grimalt cousins, Marco and Esteban, 21-16, 15-21, 15-11 to make it a perfect run on Friday for the Czech men.
Sepka and Dzavoronok will have their hands full, however, in a lucky loser matchup with Poland’s Bartosz Losiak and Michal Bryl at 9am local.
And in what should be a blast of a match, Schweiner and Perusic, for the first time in their careers, will play one another in the round of 16.
Tania Moreno makes her Beach Pro Tour return in Ostrava
2024 Olympian and NCAA National Champion Tania Moreno has enjoyed a healthy, and likely much-needed, break from beach volleyball. After four years of competing in the NCAA and professionally on the Beach Pro Tour, the Spanish defender finally took some time off, with a six-month gap between November’s World Championships, where she finished ninth with Daniela Alvarez, and this week’s Ostrava Elite.
Now, however, she’s defending for TCU standout Sofia Izuzquiza, with whom she won a gold medal at her home Futures in Madrid two weeks ago. After qualifying with a win over Estonia, Moreno and Izuzquiza needed a win on Friday morning to break out of pool — a win they got with a 21-15, 13-21, 15-10 victory over Marie-Sara Stochlova and Marketa Svozilova.
They dropped in the lucky loser to Kylie Neuschaeferova and Martina Maixnerova in a thriller of a nightcap, but, regardless of the finish, it’s good to see Moreno back on the Beach Pro Tour.
Ally Batenhorst celebrates a pool play win in Ostrava/Volleyball World photo
USA Volleyball Report
- Sara Hughes and Ally Batenhorst made it a stress-free day on Friday, sweeping Ukraine’s Anhelina Khmil and Valentyna Davidova, 21-18, 21-13 to break pool in their second Elite as a team.
- Corinne Quiggle and Chloe Loreen followed up their upset over Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson with a much-needed victory over Czechia’s Pavelkova twins, 17-21, 21-17, 15-12, to move into the ninth-place rounds.
- Piper Ferch and Teegan Van Gunst ended their run of fifth-place finishes in Elites. They dropped all three matches of pool play in Ostrava to finish 17th.
- Miles Partain and James Shaw’s Ostrava Elite was on life support late Friday afternoon. As the shadows danced over court three, they trailed, 12-14, in the third set to Leon Luini and Matthew Immers. An emergency option from Partain kept their hopes alive, which was followed by a thumping block from Shaw. New life abounded — and new life they cherished, hanging on to win, 20-18, in the third set, to break into the ninth-place rounds on Saturday.
