Teams from five countries net Huntington Beach Open Main Draw berths

With the United States already being allotted 16 Main Draw berths in each gender’s competition where the 48-team double-elimination competitions starts on Thursday morning for both genders, the Americans added three men’s and six women’s teams to the lineup to give the host country 41 pairs in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event (19 men and 22 women teams)

Pairs from France (top-seeded Aline Chamereau/Lezana Placette) and Poland (18th-seeded Agnieszka Pregowska/Aleksandra Wachowicz) joined six American women’s teams in advancing from Wednesday’s qualifiers as identical twins and 20th-seeded McKenna Thibodeau and Madison Witt of the United States had to win three matches to gain a berth.

Thibodeau and Witt, who played collegiately last season at the University of Arizona, had to win a match Tuesday to advance to Wednesday’s qualifier where the twins posted two wins over American rivals to gain a Main Draw berth in their first-ever FIVB World Tour event.

Fifth-seeded Katie Jameson and Tracy Jones, another sister combination (Lindquist) and Huntington Beach residents, also advanced to the Main Draw in their first-ever FIVB World Tour event together by eliminating 12th-seeded compatriots Devon Newberry/Lindsey Sparks 2-1 (21-18, 19-21, 15-12) in 45 minutes.

In the men’s qualifier, three countries advanced teams to the Main Draw led by three Brazilians pairs - top-seeded Gustavo "Guto" Carvalhaes/Vitor Felipe, second-seeded Saymon Barbosa/Alvaro Filho and sixth-seeded Oscar Brandao/Ricardo Santos. Other Brazilian teams in the Main Draw are Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola and Pedro Solberg/George Wanderley.

Two Canadian men’s teams qualified for the Main Draw, including third-seeded Aaron Nusbaum/Michael Plantinga and fourth-seeded Sergiy Grabovskyy/Fiodar Kazhamiaka. The last three men’s berths were filled by the American pairs of 21st-seeded Jonathan Drake/Chris Luers, 23rd-seeded Kacey Losik/Garrett Wilson and 24th-seeded David Vander Meer/Logan Webber as each team had to win three qualifying matches.

The Huntington Beach Open continues through the weekend at the Pier site where the semifinals and medal matches will be played on Sunday with the winning teams netting the $20,000 first-place prizes. Huntington Beach is now the fifth southern California site to host an FIVB World Tour event. Earlier southern California sites for international competition were Hermosa Beach (1995 and 1996), Los Angeles (1997 world championships), Carson (2003) and Long Beach (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016).

The second of two FIVB World Tour events in the United States this season, the Huntington Beach Open is a partnership between the FIVB and the United States’ premier beach volleyball tour - The AVP.  The 19th FIVB World Tour stop in the United States, the Fort Lauderdale Major was held in February in south Florida where the teams of Fernanda Alves/Barbara Seixas of Brazil and Americans Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena topped the women's and men's podiums, respectively. Both Fort Lauderdale winners will be competing in the Huntington Beach Open.

Here are Wednesday’s results from the 28-men and 20-women team qualifiers where the winners of the second-round elimination matches advanced to Thursday’s Main Draw rounds.

Women's Qualification

Round 1

• Terri Del Conte/Taylor Fricano, United States (Qualification seed No. 17) def. Lisa Reed/Anne Marie Taylor, United States (Q16), 21-11, 21-6 (26 minutes) 

• McKenna Thibodeau/Madison Witt, United States (Q20) def. Piper Monk-Heidrich/Jaden Whitmarsh, United States (Q13), 22-20, 21-8 (30) 

• Olivia Bakos/Peri Brennan, United States (Q19) def. Laryssa Mereszczak/Johanna Schatz, United States (Q14), 21-15, 21-14 (34)

• Agnieszka Pregowska/Aleksandra Wachowicz, Poland (Q18) def. Cecilia Agraz/Lacey Fuller, United States (Q15), 22-20, 21-10 (32)

Round 2 (winning teams advance to Thur4sday's Main Draw)

• Aline Chamereau/Lezana Placette, France (Q1) def. Terri Del Conte/Taylor Fricano, United States (Q17), 21-17, 21-10 (28) 

• Falyn Fonoimoana/Alexa Strange, United States (Q8) def. Deveney Pula/Stacey Smith, United States (Q9), 17-21, 21-14, 15-12 (53) 

• Katie Jameson/Tracy Jones, United States (Q5) def. Devon Newberry/Lindsey Sparks, United States (Q12), 21-18, 19-21, 15-12 (45) 

• McKenna Thibodeau/Madison Witt, United States (Q20) def. Kerri Schuh/Jessica Sykora, United States (Q4), 21-15, 21-7 (26) 

• Briana Hinga/Bre Moreland, United States (Q3) def. Olivia Bakos/Peri Brennan, United States (Q19), 21-14, 21-12 (29) 

• Avery Bush/Christina Matthews, United States (Q6) def. Heather Boyan/Kristen Petrasic, United States (Q11), 21-13, 21-15 (34) 

• Summer Nash/Megan Wheeler, United States (Q7) def. Laura Condotta/Rian Lenarduzzi, Canada (Q10), 21-14, 21-6 (25) 

• Agnieszka Pregowska/Aleksandra Wachowicz, Poland (Q18) def. Lisa Jedlicka/Melanie Valenciana, Virgin Islands (Q2), 21-11, 21-4 (23)

Men's Qualification

Round 1

• Jeff Samuels/Ian Satterfield, United States (Qualification seed No. 17) def. Filippo Boesso/Nicolo Conti, Italy (Q16), 21-14, 25-23 (41 minutes) 

• Troy Field/Bobby Jacobs, United States (Q8) def. Art Barron/Tim May, United States (Q25), 21-18, 21-14 (33) 

• David Vander Meer/Logan Webber, United States (Q24) def. Gabriel Burlacu/Jake MacNeil, Canada (Q9), 21-17, 21-16 (30) 

• Jorn Olav Gamlemoen/Christian Helland, Norway (Q5) def. Skyler McCoy/Travis Mewhirter, United States (Q28), 21-18, 14-21, 15-13 (47) 

• Jonathan Drake/Chris Luers, United States (Q21) def. Tomasz Gortych/Szymon Tralka, Poland (Q12), 21-13, 21-16 (31) 

• Stian Opsahl/Jonas Tomter, Norway (Q13) def. Brian Miller/Brett Ryan, United States (Q20), 21-19, 17-21, 15-13 (56) 

• Luciano Ferreira de Paula/Vinicius Rezende, Brazil (Q14) def. Branden Clemens/Ben Vaught, United States (Q19), 21-15, 21-12 (27) 

• Oscar Brandao/Ricardo Santos, Brazil (Q6) def. Kyle Stevenson/Nathan Yang, United States (Q27), 21-10, 21-10 (27) 

• Dylan Maarek/Jeremy Silvestre, France (Q22) def. Jakub Gala/David Kufa, Czech Republic (Q11), 21-18, 21-16 (34) 

• Simon Fecteau-Botin /Hugo Rosso-Bonneau, Canada (Q7) def. Reuben Danley/Travis Schoonover, United States (Q26), 20-22, 21-16, 15-12, (46) 

• Kacey Losik/Garrett Wilson, United States (Q23) def. Ozz Borges/Dillon Lesniak, Virgin Islands (Q10), 22-20, 21-19 (37) 

• Davide Benzi/Andrea Storari, Italy (Q15) def. Emir Kavuzlu/Mert Kurt, Turkey (Q18), 21-16, 21-12 (36) 

Round 2 (winning teams advance to Thur4sday's Main Draw)

• Gustavo "Guto" Carvalhaes/Vitor Felipe, Brazil (Q1) def. Jeff Samuels/Ian Satterfield, United States (Q17), 21-17, 21-13 (36)

• David Vander Meer/Logan Webber, United States (Q24) def. Troy Field/Bobby Jacobs, United States (Q8), 21-19, 21-15 (34) 

• Jonathan Drake/Chris Luers, United States (Q21) def. Jorn Olav Gamlemoen/Christian Helland, Norway (Q5), 21-15, 17-21, 15-11 (48) 

• Sergiy Grabovskyy/Fiodar Kazhamiaka, Canada (Q4) def. Stian Opsahl/Jonas Tomter, Norway (Q13), 21-15, 19-21, 15-6 (42)

• Aaron Nusbaum/Michael Plantinga, Canada (Q3) def. Luciano Ferreira de Paula/Vinicius Rezende, Brazil (Q14), 21-19, 14-21, 15-11 (46)

• Oscar Brandao/Ricardo Santos, Brazil (Q6) def. Dylan Maarek/Jeremy Silvestre, France (Q22), 21-17, 21-16 (39) 

• Kacey Losik/Garrett Wilson, United States (Q23) def. Simon Fecteau-Botin/ Hugo Rosso-Bonneau, Canada (Q7), 17-21, 21-11, 15-13 (39)

• Saymon Barbosa/Alvaro Filho, Brazil (Q2) def. Davide Benzi/Andrea Storari, Italy (Q15), 21-16, 21-17 (36)