SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter28 Elo 2019

Eric Beranek: Setback, setback, setback -- then massive breakthrough

You know what they say about plans. Some say that when God hears you making plans, he just laughs. Mike Tyson claims that everybody’s got plan, until they get punched in the face.

Eric Beranek had plans this year. He was going to get a coach. Play the year with one guy. Do it the right way, finally.

Then God chuckled, and Beranek was, proverbially, punched in the face. He began the year well enough, with Curt Toppel. Straight into main draw. But Toppel was, well, “Toppel,” Beranek said on SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter. He said this with a laugh, because Toppel is Toppel. Full-time job. Kids. Just had enough points to make main draw, so why not go out and play?

Beranek knew, though, that Toppel wasn’t his full-time guy. Wasn’t into it like he was. So he turned to Marty Lorenz. That, too, went well enough at first. They made main draw in Austin. Played well, too. Only thing was, Beranek had a cyst on his tailbone. Didn’t tell anyone but shew wee, you should have seen that thing. Went to the hospital right after he got home, and the surgery seemed to go ok, until, an hour later, he was sitting in the bathroom, body rejecting everything, plunging into septic shock.

He spent a few more days in the hospital. Had to skip New York, and then Seattle, though the latter turned out to be a bit serendipitous. When Lorenz called Beranek to tell him he couldn’t play Seattle, Billy Kolinske phoned no more than two minutes later, asked him to play the Pottstown Rumble, a big money grass tournament just south of Philadelphia.

“I still wasn’t quite right,” he said, but he went anyway, and wouldn’t you know it, they made the finals. Won a good bit of cash, too. Maybe this year was looking up. Going to turn around, close on a high.

Somewhere, God laughed.

Maybe he knew Beranek was about to get punched in the face again.

The day before AVP Hermosa, where he was set to partner with Lorenz again, Beranek’s girlfriend broke up with him. Then salt was poured in by Dylan Maarek and Dave Palm, who knocked him out of the final round of the qualifier.

“I didn’t play two AVPs, don’t qualify, girlfriend breaks up with me, ‘I’m like, awesome! We’re back. All time low. Sweet!’” Beranek said, laughing. That’s the things about slamming into the bottom: You bounce.

And he did. He set up a practice with Corey Glave, just the two of them. He told Beranek that the player he once knew only wanted to win. He needed to become the player who expected to win.

“You gotta find that, and you gotta work super hard to get back,” he told him.

“Ok,” Beranek said. “Here we go.”

Here we go meant eighth seed in the AVP Manhattan Beach qualifier. No longer with Lorenz, Beranek was back with Kolinske, his Pottstown partner. Lorenz almost encouraged the move. He had trouble dialing in Beranek’s set in transition. Kolinske, who’s world-class at the art of transition setting, would be a better partner for him.

That’s one plan God didn’t laugh at.

Beranek was finished, for the weekend, at least, getting metaphorically punched in the face. They qualified, and then, after dropping their first match to Ed Ratledge and Rafu Rodriguez, they battled back to win a three-setter over Travis Mewhirter and Raffe Paulis. Their legs were toast. Didn’t matter. They rallied, one more time that day, to beat John Hyden and Theo Brunner. With six matches on their legs, they were moving onto Saturday.

“Holy shit,” Beranek thought. “This tournament just started.”

It would have been funny, for anyone in the stands, to see Beranek’s dad there. He’s made quite the turnaround. He’s his biggest fan now, Mr. Beranek, but a few years ago, to imagine his son competing on a Saturday at the AVP Manhattan Beach Open? No way.

He’s got his own Aerospace manufacturing business. His son was set for life. Didn’t matter if he had dropped out of OCC, dismayed by grades and volleyball. Eric had a job.

“You’re set!” he pleaded with his headstrong kid. His friends weren’t much different. When Beranek told them he wanted to play beach volleyball professionally, “they looked at me like I was crazy,” he said. “They said ‘Ohhh, you want to be an actor too? You probably have a better shot at that.’ That was a funny and weird thing I struggled with.”

So his friends would laugh, and his dad would send his daily offer: Want me to help pay for trade school? Stay in the shop? Want to be a hairdresser?

Nope nope nope.

He may have dropped out of OCC, but he had his own kind of education in mind. He skipped work one day and biked down to the strand to find Holly McPeak. He asked if she knew of any coaching opportunities available, and she said no, but there’s this guy, always dressed in Pepperdine gear. Name’s Marcio Sicoli. He’d be down at 15th street tomorrow morning. Go find him. So he skipped work again, found Sicoli, and for the next four months, became the world’s most dedicated ball shagger. From 8-10, he’d be with Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross, and from 10-12 he’d work with Kolinske and Casey Jennings.

He took the work he saw them doing and applied it to his own game. The results, as they do, lagged at first. Took their time to come in. But a main draw in Seattle of 2018 led to Hermosa, and Manhattan, and Chicago.

And then he made plans for the 2019 season, which is when everything began to dissolve – crystallizing only when Kolinske, in a poetic reunion, needed a partner. Then came Manhattan, qualifying, stunning one team after the next: Hyden and Brunner, Avery Drost and Chase Frishman, Ricardo Santos and Sean Rosenthal, Chaim Schalk and Jeremy Casebeer.

And now they were in the semifinals?

Eric Beranek?

The kid who had to trick his way onto the court at OCC, telling the starter that the coach wanted him in instead, only for the coach to notice, one play in, and yank him again?

That kid?

Oh, yes. He had made the switch Glave wanted. Eric Beranek expected to win.

“It was ‘We need to win. How are we going to win?’” Beranek said. “We were playing good ball. I’m playing good volleyball against these guys. We can beat them.”

He’s able to sit back, relax now. Now that the legs aren’t feeling like jello and the adrenaline has reduced his heart rate to somewhat normal. He didn’t know when his time would come, only that it would.

He simply had to be ready.

“Everyone’s timeline is different,” he said. “Some people will say ‘I’m this age, so I should be doing this at this age because he is,’ but there is a lot of those pressures and I think it’s easy for younger guys, girls, to look up to people, the superstars who come out of college and are placing super high. There’s a lot of that. There are girls my age that are in contention to winning tournaments. I thought ‘Man, when is that going to come? Am I going to be 25? 26?’

“I didn’t really know, and I didn’t put too much pressure on myself to do that. I just said it’s going to come when it’s going to come. Everyone has their own timeline, so I’m just going to keep grinding.”

Keep grinding.

The one plan God doesn’t laugh at.

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Kerri Pottharst: The Australian GOAT Living Her Best Life

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Kerri Pottharst, one of the greatest beach volleyball players of all time and certainly Australia's GOAT. We shot this episode in Gstaad, on July 4 weekend, and we chat all aspects of Pottharst's career, from her multiple Olympics to where she is now as one of the key commentators on VBTV. Chapters with Kerri Pottharst 00:00 Introduction to Australian Beach Volleyball 03:01 The Growth of Australian Volleyball 05:57 The Evolution of Beach Volleyball 09:09 Mindset and Mental Preparation in Sports 11:58 The Importance of Enjoyment in Sports 14:54 Lessons from Competing at the Highest Level 17:47 The Role of Coaches and Mentors 21:00 The Impact of Social Media on Sports 24:05 Reflections on Olympic Experiences 26:52 The Future of Beach Volleyball 30:06 Conclusion and Final Thoughts SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

27 Elo 1h 2min

Hector Gutierrez: The Man Who Finally Stole The NCAA Beach Title From California

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Hector Gutierrez, the head coach of the TCU Beach Volleyball team who recently won the first NCAA Championship outside of California. We chat a whole lot about that win, as well as: - How he was able to build a program around Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno - How he was able to lure Sarah Sponcil as his new assistant coach - What it was like, winning his first NCAA Championship, and the first outside of California - Why Gulf Shores presented more pressure than the Olympic Games (no joke) SUCH A FUN ONE with Hector. Love this guy SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

20 Elo 1h 13min

BEACH ACCESS: Canada's Queens, Beach Volleyball's Kings On Top In Montreal

Welcome back to Beach Access, presented by SHIELD, where Travis Mewhirter and Kyle Friend recap all things Beach Volleyball wherever they are in the world. This weekend, they were in Montreal for the Beach Pro Tour Elite, where Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson successfully defended their gold medal in 2023, as did Anders Mol and Christian Sorum. They chat all about that, as well as: - What an incredible event the promoter put on and why we hope it continues - The return of Ana Patricia Silva and Duda Lisboa - Another f****** Sweden team is quickly becoming a problem on the Beach Pro Tour in Jacob Holting-Nilsson and Elmer Andersson - Teams making the biggest moves in the World Champs race, including Germany's Lui Wust and Paul Henning SHOOTS! *** Our medical timeout was brought to you by SHIELD Athletic Tape. If you’re an athlete, coach, or just train hard, you know that staying healthy is easier said than done— it’s about staying supported. That’s where SHIELD comes in. SHIELD is a U.S.-based athletic tape company built by athletes, for athletes. Whether it’s rigid tape for serious support, kinesiology tape with true 4-way stretch for maximum mobility, or turf tape to fight off burns on the field — SHIELD’s got you covered. They even make recovery wraps for post-session cooldowns and inflammation control. And because it’s all made right here in the U.S., you’re getting elite quality and fast delivery —they are truly not cutting corners. Try SHIELD today — support that actually performs. Check them out at shieldhealthandfitness.com and use code SANDCAST for a discount. Tape smarter. Train harder. SHIELD up.

18 Elo 25min

Mailbag Reunion! Tri's Retirement and Future, Thoughts on the AVP, Indoor Players on The Beach

This is our first mailbag episode of the year -- and maybe the last, depending on Tri Bourne's and Travis Mewhirter's schedules. They catch up in a little reunion episode, chatting Tri's retirement, amongst a host of other topics in a wide ranging episode that gets looooose in the best of ways. We answer questions on: - Tri Bourne's impending retirement - What's going to happen with the podcast - The difference between refs on the AVP and FIVB - The NCAA players with the best chances of becoming world-class professionals - And we just catch up. It was really, really nice. ENJOY! SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

13 Elo 1h 29min

Gary Green: How to Coach The New Generation of Athletes In an Attention Deprived World

This episode of SANDCAST features Gary Green, who might be the most fascinating guest we've ever had on the podcast. He's the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of Georgia who has given talks to hundreds of teams and works with Kirby Smart and the Georgia football team. What's that got to do with volleyball? Well, everything, as Green is a master of human behavior, and in particular this young generation of athletes, whose brains are becoming Tik-Tokified. Enjoy this masterclass from the master professor himself (We know Travis Mewhirter did). SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

6 Elo 1h 2min

Kristen Nuss, Taryn Brasher: The Glitch In The Beach Volleyball System

This episode of SANDCAST is a Gstaad special! Shot from the Beach Pro Tour Gstaad Elite, Travis Mewhirter and Kyle Friend sit down with Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher to chat all things beach volleyball, from their journey to veterans of the sport and number one in the world to the Olympic Games. We cover: - How they have become veterans on the Beach Pro Tour now - What they have done to maintain the youthful joy for which they are so known - Their experience at the Paris Olympic Games, and its lasting effects - Their new merch line and all things TKN Beach Volleyball SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

30 Heinä 57min

Tri Bourne: The Retirement Of The Man Who Was Bourne On The Beach

This episode of SANDCAST is a heartfelt one, one in which Tri Bourne and his wife, Gabby, the Pod Mama herself, chat about Bourne's retirement from the world of professional beach volleyball. It's a reflective episode, as Bourne and Gabby talk about: - Bourne's wild journey, filled with the highest of highs, and perpetual health issues that robbed him of a fully healthy season since 2016 - Why he is deciding to retire now, at still a relatively young age in a sport that allows for longevity - Why he isn't sure, and doesn't need to be sure, about what's next in his life - The emotional weight of the decision to retire when he still has plenty of game left in him And so, so much more SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

23 Heinä 1h 22min

Evan Cory: Adapting, Adjusting, THRIVING In 2025

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Evan Cory, one of the best players in the United States who alas had his plans aligned, with a full-time partner in Bourne, sites on the AVP League and World Champs -- everything dialed. And then beach volleyball happened. Bourne got hurt. They missed the League. Now Cory is, per usual, scrambling -- and thriving amidst the chaos. Fun episode with one of our favorites. We chat about: - What is was like for Cory to miss the league with Tri Bourne - How he has adjusted, leaning on patience, patience, and more patience, and adaptability, after he thought he broke through - His new partner prospects he's looking at - The importance of the mental side of sports, and how he is teaching it to junior players with his new business And so much more. Gold mine of an episode here! SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products! We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link. If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

16 Heinä 1h 16min

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