Mailbag: Who are the top five blockers and defenders in the world? More fan questions
SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter29 Huhti 2020

Mailbag: Who are the top five blockers and defenders in the world? More fan questions

Typically, I’d be a bit neurotic by now. Short on sleep. Distracted. Mind ping-ponging back and forth, looking at the draw, then looking again – did it change did it change?

This, of course, is not the typical pre-AVP Huntington Beach qualifier eve. This is just a Wednesday like any other in the off-season: no events on the foreseeable horizon. Nothing specific to train for.

Sleep comes easy.

In such a strangely uncertain sports world, Tri and I opened up SANDCAST: Beach volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, to fan questions, and we did our best to answer, or at least opine, on them. A few I’ve written our responses to. Because nobody wants to read 3,000 words of me answering questions, you can find our answers to the rest on our episode.

Question one: Who are some younger players to watch out for (not obvious ones like Eric Beranek, etc.) Where do you think the season will begin? Where have you been training? (and we know you have, wink)

This is always such a difficult list for the men, because there really aren’t many youngsters who would willingly commit to beach over indoor. Kawika Shoji discussed that very thing last week on SANDCAST, and the list of reasons is nearly endless, with financial security being the most obvious. However, there are a handful. Miles Partain is the obvious candidate here. At just 18 years old and still in high school, he already has a fifth-place AVP finish to his name, at AVP Chicago with Paul Lotman. He made the final three AVP main draws of the season – Manhattan, Chicago, Hawai’i – and trained the entire off-season under coach Tyler Hildebrand and our top national teams. He’s a can’t-miss up-and-comer.

The women, meanwhile, are nearly endless. Peruse the top two courts at any of the top 15 or so college programs and you have AVP main draw talents. The names I’ll point you to, however, are these: Savvy Simo and Abby Van Winkle (UCLA), Alaina Chacon and Molly McBain (Florida State), Haley Harward (USC), Brook Bauer and Deahna Kraft (Pepperdine), Julia Scoles and Morgan Martin (Hawai’i), Delaynie Maple and Megan Kraft (committed to USC), Torrey Van Winden (Cal Poly), Reka Orsi Toth and Iya Lindahl (LMU), Sunniva Helland-Hansen and Carly Perales (Stetson), Dani Alvarez (TCU), Kristen Nuss and Claire Coppola (LSU), Mima Mirkovic (Cal).

Of the bunch, my breakout selection would be Simo, UCLA’s dynamic court one defender and unquestioned leader of the team I would have bet a fair amount of American dollars to win the National Championship. She has all the potential to become this year’s version of a Sarah Sponcil, who made the finals in her first AVP event, or Zana Muno, another Bruin who made an AVP semifinal in her rookie season.

Question two: Should the AVP start a Dino Division for players post 50 who still want to compete 3-4 times per year? Golf has masters, AVP has dino?

I thought this question was hysterical in the best of ways. Idealistically, this sounds great. Who wouldn’t want to watch Tim Hovland yap with Sinjin Smith, while the always-quiet Mike Dodd digs balls and Randy Stoklos yells about how he was the first person to ever hand set? I’m game. But it is, let’s all be honest here, a bit quixotic. The AVP does well enough to put on eight events for the best, most explosive players in the world, and when compared to the major sports, there’s a niche market at best.

Would there really be a market for old men with big mouths and small verticals?

The dino is such a great event because it’s the only one – and it’s given a shot of life with younger players such as Tayor Crabb to help carry their older counterparts. It’s fun, competitive, and a little heartwarming.

Golf’s Champions Tour works because guys like Tom Watson and Fred Couples can still compete at close to the same level they could when they were in their primes. There’s no impact on their bodies, and the level of play is still astonishingly high. Watson, for example, finished second at The Open Championship in 2009, losing in a four-hole playoff, 26 years after his most recent major win, when he was 60 years old.

I have no doubt that Sinjin can still ball. But could he get out there with Stoklos and take Jake Gibb and Crabb to three sets in the finals of the Manhattan Beach Open? Doubtful.

I think p1440 nailed an older-aged event when they hosted a four-on-four match featuring two legends and two current pros on either team. There’s certainly a market and space for something whimsical like that to happen a few times per year.

Until then, keep the Dino the great, annual event that it is.

Question 3: Will there be a new BVB book (got my copy signed by Tri in Hamburg)?

Yes. Maybe. I can’t tell you for sure. But all I can say is that there could, potentially, be a possibility of an upcoming beach volleyball book to be released in early summer.

Question 4: Rate your top 5 male defenders/blockers internationally.

This was such a fun one to discuss. Everybody keeps talking about how much parity there is on the world tour, and with good reason. Attempting to nail down the top five defenders is, to me, like trying to rank my favorite golf courses in Myrtle Beach – they’re all the best courses.

The top five blockers came a little easier. We decided on:

  1. Anders Mol, Norway
  2. Oleg Stoyanovskiy, Russia
  3. Phil Dalhausser, United States
  4. Alison Cerutti, Brazil
  5. Evandro Goncalves, Brazil

Honorable mentions included: Paolo Nicolai, Italy; Michal Bryl, Poland; Jake Gibb, United States; Tri Bourne, United States; Julius Thole, Germany.

The defenders weren’t so clear-cut. It’s impossible to rank them because they’re all playing behind blockers of varying sizes and abilities. But we wound up pinning it down to:

  1. Taylor Crabb, United States (we are prepared to duke it out from six feet away with those who disagree)
  2. Christian Sorum, Norway
  3. Clemens Wickler, Germany
  4. Viacheslav Krasilnikov, Russia
  5. Grzegorz Fijalek, Poland

Honorable mentions included: Alvaro Filho, Brazil; Bruno Schmidt, Brazil; Adrian Carambula, Italy; Nick Lucena, United States; Daniele Lupo, Italy.

Jaksot(500)

Julia Scoles, the Rookie of the Year with ’so much growth’ still to do

Julia Scoles, the Rookie of the Year with ’so much growth’ still to do

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Julia Scoles, the VolleyballMag 2022 Rookie of the Year and one of the toughest – and also sweetest – people you’ll ever meet. Scoles had one heck of a season this year, winning a second straight NCAA Championship with USC before embarking on a wildly successful AVP campaign, making five semifinals and two finals, winning the Atlanta Gold Series alongside Geena Urango. She’d also take gold at the FISU World University Championships with good friend, Hailey Harward. And she’s just getting started. We talked about all of that, as well as: How this season became the best of her career Gritting through the Fort Lauderdale finals, where she was sick, and the winning Atlanta just one week later How childhood gymnastics prepared her for anything that life could throw at her How this season changed her outlook on her beach career. And, as always, a whole lot more. ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

28 Syys 20221h 9min

Dain Blanton, as ever, is making the most of every opportunity

Dain Blanton, as ever, is making the most of every opportunity

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Dain Blanton, one of the most accomplished people in the sport of beach volleyball. As a player, Blanton won an Olympic gold medal, completing a Cinderella run in the 2000 Sydney Games with Eric Fonoimoana. As a broadcaster, you can hear Blanton’s voice on the AVP’s livestream, NBC – wherever volleyball needs commentary, Blanton’s there. As a coach, Blanton has led USC to two consecutive NCAA Championships and is gearing up for another run as the 2023 season approaches. We talked about ALL of that, as well as: The incredible success of his USC players on the AVP this season, with Tina Graudina, Hailey Harward, and Julia Scoles all winning AVP titles Should USA Volleyball have an Olympic trials system for the upcoming 2024 Paris Games? Should USA select its pairs, as coaches do in college? His Olympic run with Fonoimoana, and how it was a major dose of serendipitiy that put them back together again And, as always, so much more. Love chatting with Dain anytime we can, and you’ll love to listen in. ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

21 Syys 20221h 43min

Kyle Friend: ’Make volleyball easy for everyone around you’

Kyle Friend: ’Make volleyball easy for everyone around you’

This episode of SANDCAST features My Friend, Your Friend, he’s Everybody’s Friend, he’s the one and only Kyle Friend. He’s had a HUGE breakout season, and maybe even, as he’ll admit on the podcast, a somewhat unexpected one, with Tim Brewster. With a seventh at the Atlanta Gold Series and a fifth in Chicago – while also adding a second and a pair of thirds in three Tour Series events – Friend has had the best AVP season of his career. We chatted all about that, as well as: How shagging balls and being a voluntary practice dummy for USA Volleyball was a boon for his career as a player The best lesson he learned from Karch Kiraly about being a teammate Why he believes this year has been such a breakout one for him The benefits of surrounding yourself with the best And, as always, a whole lot more. ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

14 Syys 20221h 15min

Sophie Bukovec: Surprising herself all the way to the top of the world

Sophie Bukovec: Surprising herself all the way to the top of the world

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter features Sophie Bukovec, one of the fastest-rising defenders in the world. Anyone following the NCAA beach volleyball system has long known Bukovec is talented, when she won three National Championships at USC alongside Sara Hughes, Kelly Claes, Allie Wheeler, Nicolette Martin, and Terese Cannon, among others. But this good? Silver medal at World Championships good? She’s even surprised herself. We chatted about that, and a whole lot more, including: How Bukovec became the first beach-only player in Canadian history How she came to USC, joining that venerated recruiting class Her decision to switch to defense, and how she and Brandie Wilkerson came to be partners The incredible run she and Wilkerson have had in 2022. And, as always, a whole lot more. ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

7 Syys 20221h 26min

Drinking Kona (and Maui Brew) with the Crabbs

Drinking Kona (and Maui Brew) with the Crabbs

This week’s episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is another installment of one of our most popular recurring segments: Drinking Kona (and, in this case, Maui Brew) with the Crabbs. As you may have heard, Trevor Crabb is coming off his third straight Manhattan Beach Open victory – two straight with Tri Bourne – and Taylor Crabb has put together a heck of a season alongside AVP Rookie of the Year frontrunner, Taylor Sander. So we had all the boys on to drink some beers, and chat about all things beach volleyball, including: How a Bourne or Crabb has been in every Manhattan Beach Open final since 2015! How a childhood of pickup games at the Outrigger Canoe Club led all of them to their incredible success thus far on the AVP Tour What ACTUALLY happened between Taylor Crabb and John Hyden at AVP Fort Lauderdale Taylor Crabb’s first year with Taylor Sander And oh, so much more. ENJOY! (we sure did) *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

31 Elo 20221h 20min

Summer Mailbag! AVP parity, Olympic favorites, trash talking, hottest teams on Tour

Summer Mailbag! AVP parity, Olympic favorites, trash talking, hottest teams on Tour

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is our semi-monthly, and always popular, feature: Our fan question Summer Mailbag. There has been more beach volleyball than we know what to do with, certainly the most since we launched the podcast back in October of 2017. Mountains of questions ensued. As always, we thank you guys and gals so much for listening, for asking the questions that are so fun to answer. We did our best to get to as many as we could in just under an hour and a half. A few we did chat about were: Why isn’t Bally’s and the AVP streaming court two? On a related note, why are the stands so small? Talk about Kelly Cheng and Betsi Flint winning Hamburg! Are Trevor’s guarantees as good for the team as they are the AVP? What’s up with the tracking devices players wear on center court? Do we like them? How good is Miles Partain? And, as always, so much more! ENJOY! Photo creds: Josh Glazebrook *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

24 Elo 20221h 28min

Kent Steffes: It’s Winning Time

Kent Steffes: It’s Winning Time

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, is an absolute treat, featuring BY FAR the most requested guest in podcast history: Kent Steffes, the most dominant player in the history of beach volleyball. In his brilliant, if not short, career, Steffes won nearly half the tournaments he played in, claiming the 1996 Olympic gold medal with Karch Kiraly, as well as four Manhattan Beach Opens. He’s a champions champion, and this episode more than delivers. Steffes and Mewhirter recently published a book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball, that both our guest and host would love for you to buy on Amazon. We talked a whole lot about that, as well as: What the AVP, Bally’s, and Volleyball World could be doing to get beach volleyball back in a financially healthy state What the winning mindset is, and how Steffes became the perennial champion he was Why he loved working on the book so much How massive beach volleyball was when he was a player And so, so, so much more. You’re going to want to listen to this entire episode, we promise. ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

17 Elo 20221h 40min

Geena Urango: The newest AVP Champ who’s living life fully in the present

Geena Urango: The newest AVP Champ who’s living life fully in the present

This episode of SANDCAST features Geena Urango, one of the first guests we ever had on the podcast and the newest AVP CHAMPION! Urango and Julia Scoles won the AVP Atlanta Gold Series event, just one week after finishing second in the AVP Fort Lauderdale Pro Series. We chatted allllll about that win, as well as: How letting go of the outcome is what ultimately led to Urango winning her first AVP Making her first AVP final in 2015, and the long wait to finally win her first What makes Julia Scoles so special Why the AVP is the perfect level of commitment for her And, as always, so much more. ENJOY! *** NEW BOOK ALERT!!! Travis Mewhirter and Kent Steffes just published a seminal work on the history of beach volleyball in their new book, Kings of Summer: The Rise of Beach Volleyball. Check it out on Amazon!! https://www.amazon.com/Kings-Summer-rise-beach-volleyball/dp/B0B3JHFKM7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJFWHPBGPQ2&keywords=kings+of+summer+book&qid=1658922972&sprefix=kings+of+summer+book%2Caps%2C1328&sr=8-1 We now have SANDCAST MERCHANDISE!! Rock the gear of your favorite podcast today! https://www.sandcastmerch.com/ 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/ This episode, as always, is brought to you by Wilson Volleyball, makers of the absolute best balls in the game, hands down. You can get a 20-percent discount using our code, SANDCAST-20! https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Check out our book, Volleyball for Milkshakes, written by SANDCAST hosts Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter: https://www.amazon.com/Volleyball-Milkshakes-Travis-Mewhirter/dp/B089781SHB

10 Elo 20221h 10min

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