Day 2 at the 25th Anniversary Vancouver Open Pro Beach Volleyball Tournament – Presented by Dunbar Cycles provided excellent competitive entertainment as both our Men’s and Women’s draw started out 32 teams strong, now all that’s remaining are 8 teams per side competing for a share of the $15,000 tournament cash prize!
Men’s Recap:
The Men’s draw welcomed a playoff second round upset, and injury news that was upsetting.
#17 seed Logan Mend and Kristof Orman knocked down tournament #1 seed Alex Russell and Jared Krause 2-1 (21-19, 13-21, 15-9). After defeating the #9 seed Grabovsky/Kazhamiaka, Mend/Orman later lost to #4 seed Dan Caverly and John Galloway. Team “Kraussell” went through the backdoor rounds and will face Ontario’s Jake MacNeil and Lucas Coleman, with the winner having a chance to play Mend/Orman in the Backdoor Quarter finals.
#2 seed Jonny Wiskar and Matt Lebourdais won against #31 seed Mario Garcia and Greg Mytropan. Wiskar/Lebourdais exited the playoffs early through a forfeit as Lebourdais went down with an unexpecting injury – which was found later to be a severe tear in his abdominal muscle. Our bests go out to Matty.
At Saturday’s end, the following teams are still in contention for the title of Vancouver Open Champion:
Front Door Semi-Finals:
Hatch/Zbyszewski (#3), Caverly/Galloway (#4) – Waiting for backdoor matches
Backdoor Quarter-Finals:
Casey/Casey (#10), Mend/Orman (#17) – IN
Onishchenko/Griffith (#5) vs Grabovsky/Kazhamiaka (#9).
MacNeil/Coleman (#13) vs Russell/Krause (#1).
Women’s Recap:
The women’s side was just as competitive and fierce although some of the scores did not reflect it. Once a pair was on fire you could tell couldn’t stop it (pun somewhat intended)!
#1 seed Megan and Nicole McNamara showcased their elite performance as per usual trying to win the Open for a record third straight year. They had yet to drop a set in this year’s Open until they faced VBC Kelowna Pro Tour Champions Kumiko Chow and Denise Wooding. #4 seed Chow/Wooding stole the first set from the McNamara twins, but eventually lost the match 1-2 (21-19, 18-21, 10-15).
Manitoba Twins and also new high school grads Josie and Kearley Abbott entered the draw as the #30 seed. After losing to #3 seed Liz Cordonier (2x Open Champ) and Caleigh Whitaker (16-21, 8-21), the Abbott twins bounced back and knocked out four straight matches in the backdoor rounds against #19 Calvert/Farr, #13 Chartier/Chioccarello, #22 Scott/Pelletier, and #7 Stone/Wiskar. A win against the experienced #8 seed Zbyszewski/Cowley would pit Chow/Wooding up against yet another set of twins!
At Saturday’s end, the following teams are still in contention for the title of Vancouver Open Champion:
Front Door Semi-Finals:
McNamara/McNamara (#1), Saxton/Cockrell (#2) – Waiting for backdoor matches
Backdoor Quarter-Finals:
Cordonier/Whitaker (#3), Wooding/Chow (#4) – IN
Thomas/Thomas (#5) vs Weir/Braun (#9).
Abbott/Abbott (#30) vs Zbyszewski/Cowley (#8).
For detailed schedule of the Vancouver Open, visit the PLAYERS section of www.vancouveropen.volleyballbc.org
Sunday will feature many games and fun prizes, including skyball contest, long-jump contests, and crowning of the VBC Pro Tour Champion! Matches on Sunday goes from 8:30am to 5pm!
Sunday Live Stream
All games from 10am onwards will be live-streamed on our YouTube channel, with the Bronze and Gold medal matches being recorded.
Looking for more photos? Check out our photo website!