The first open tournament I ever played was in Gulf Shores, Alabama, in May of 2015, on a few courts backed up against the NCAA Championships. Though I didn’t know it at the time, it was the first time I had ever crossed paths with Delaney Knudsen, who was then a court one standout for Pepperdine (and would narrowly lose in three in the finals to a team you may have heard of, Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes). I remember being impressed then by the setup. Now, as an assistant at Florida State — second assistant, I might add — Gulf Shores takes on a whole new level of meaning to me.
That’s where we’ll — we being Florida State, but also the NCAA world as a whole — be this week for the NCAA Beach Volleyball National Championships, checking in at the 8 seed, where we’ll match up with Long Beach State at the 9. UCLA took the top spot — a surprise to me — and TCU went 2. Virtually everyone in the top six can beat anybody, as they have demonstrated all year, and it’ll take some Cinderellas to do some dancing after that. Madison Fitzpatrick will have a full preview on Thursday, and I chat a bit about it on this week’s podcast, a solo episode where I break down all things AVP League, the Volleyball World Lucky Loser Tour, and World Champs qualifying.
Below, enjoy the throwback of my first open tournament in May of 2015, that hitchy arm swing, the point to the target with the right index finger, and also the last time I’ve been to Gulf Shores.
Excited to be back.
The last time I was in Gulf Shores was in May of 2015.
The week in SANDCAST Studios
This past week’s podcast featured Silila Tucker, a longtime professional on the AVP Tour who is now partnering with the AVP for a fun new project: a grassroots league for recreational/semi-amateur players affiliated with the actual AVP League. It’s fun stuff, and he chats with Tri Bourne about it on this week’s podcast:
After what Madison Fitzpatrick called the craziest NCAA Beach Volleyball regular season she has ever seen, she previewed the playoffs prior to this past weekend’s Conference Championships, wondering if more unexpected results would occur. The answer?
Two more tickets punched to the AVP League. James Shaw and Chaim Schalk went bonkers, smashing four straight teams by an average of 15-9.5 to clinch their ticket. Meanwhile, Lexy Denaburg and Julia Scoles won barnburner after barnburner to seal up their bid. I chat about that on this week’s podcast, and here’s the AVP specific clip, which members of our YouTube Channel can already watch, while others have to wait until noon, eastern.
We’ll be covering the World Championships as if it’s the Olympics because it is, only better. There are more teams — and better teams — more prize money, and, to those who truly understand the sport, more of a legacy on the line. Here are the standings two months into the season.
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.
Coming up on Wednesday we have another solo episode with yours truly, breaking down the AVP League qualifier, NCAA Championships, and the Volleyball World Lucky Loser Tour.
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!
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.
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.
