The season officially known as Fall and unofficially dubbed pumpkin spice szn is, in the beach volleyball world, breakthrough season. Seven USA Volleyball players — Tim Brewster, Ryan Ierna, Cody Caldwell, Wyatt Harrison, Carly Kan, Devanne Sours, Piper Ferch — all made their first Elite main draw on Wednesday at this week’s Cape Town Elite.
Brewster and Ierna, playing in their sixth Beach Pro Tour event of the year, qualified with a sweep over Botswana, 21-12, 21-14, while Ferch and veteran Teegan Van Gunst swept Japan, 21-17, 21-13, and Kan and Sours swept Hungary, 21-18, 21-15. Caldwell and Harrison, seeded tenth, were already directly into the main draw. The women will join Chloe Loreen and Corinne Quiggle in the main draw.
Cape Town is the second event for Ferch, a recent Cal Poly graduate, and Van Gunst, who played the majority of the season with Kim Hildreth. Their debut came at the Nuvali Challenge, where they finished seventeenth.
Kan and Sours have played together the entire season, and this is their second Beach Pro Tour main draw of the year, the first coming at a Futures in Ios, Greece, where they finished fifth.
Quiggle and Loreen, of course, have been hot as of late, winning a silver medal at the Veracruz Challenge before taking a ninth the following week at the Newport Elite. They have qualified in every single tournament they’ve played, their team-best being a fifth at the Quintana Roo Elite to begin the season.
Fall events always present an opportunity for up and coming teams and players to earn points in a hurry. The majority of top teams typically sit out, resting after a long season or, in this case, dialing everything in for the upcoming World Championships. So to see so many new faces in an Elite and, likely, on the podium, is nothing unusual.
To watch all of the action from the Cape Town Elite, head to VBTV, where you can get 10 percent off using the code SANDCAST10.
For results, photos, and more from the Cape Town Elite, head to Volleyball World.
Carly Kan and Devanne Sours made their first Elite main draw/Volleyball World photo
