Visiting with a Beach Volleyball Viking

Huntington Beach, Calif., USA, September 24, 2018 - One of the greatest runs in beach volleyball history has been in the books for more than a month, but it would not surprise anyone if Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway still can’t believe what hit them.

It was a four-tournament run of victories in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Gstaad Major, the European Championships, the Vienna Major and the World Tour Finals that netted them not only the status as the No. 1 team in the world, but a record of US$253,000 in earnings over a 34-day span.

With Mol, 21, and Sorum, 22, it’s a little bit different. The Beach Volleyball Vikings apparently have the celebrations in their rear-view mirror as the FIVB World Tour qualifications for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics loom.

“I think we’re kind of over the season now and we already look forward of course to this tournament, the King of the Court,” Sorum said from the sands of Huntington Beach. “We have one more tournament in Las Vegas and we want to do good there.

“There are still a lot of things to improve and that’s what we want to do in this offseason. The last tournaments, people really want to beat us, and they try different tactics and we just have to find another way to win and continue winning here.”

Which means they know they are targets now, not just another promising duo on the World Tour. They’ve raised a few more eyebrows with their postseason accolades, with Mol grabbing four significant FIVB honours – Most Outstanding Player, Most Improved, Best Offensive and Best Blocker.

For his part, Sorum was named as the World Tour’s Best Defensive Player, with his name added to the list of the likes of Olympic gold medallists and legends like Bruno Oscar Schmidt and Todd Rogers. 

“It’s a big honour because I know there are a lot of good defensive players out there and to be nominated as the best from the players and the referees and the delegates, it’s a really big honour,” Sorum said. “For me, I still have a lot to learn from the other players like Bruno, (Martins) Plavins, (Viacheslav) Krasylnikov, they are really good defenders and I want to improve my game and there are still have a lot of things to improve.

“For me, it’s a dream to be honoured. I have goosebumps when you mention those names and it’s really cool to be on the list with those names.”

Sorum and Mol have been on a whirlwind postseason tour that included the King of the Court series that just concluded with stops in Hawaii and California.

They didn’t win, but they did receive an appreciative welcome from Southern California fans.

“The Americans are one of the greatest audiences,” Sorum said. “They really know beach volleyball, they cheer when they should cheer and those are great fans.”

But did he get the sense that the fans are beginning to recognize them?

“I don’t know,” Sorum said with a smile. “Hopefully after this tournament.”