Three Bruins returned from China, and one has a fifth-place finish to show for it.
UCLA beach volleyball seniors Sarah Sponcil, Nicole McNamara and Megan McNamara competed in the 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour in Jinjiang, China last week. The four-star tournament is one of many on the way to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Representing Canada, the McNamaras fell 2-0 in the second qualification round to Ukraine’s Diana Lunina and Maryna Samoday.
Sponcil partnered with USC graduate Kelly Claes to represent the U.S. in the international circuit. The duo placed fifth in Jinjiang after not even making it to qualifiers in the Itapema Open in Brazil days prior, given that only 10 out of the U.S.’s 11 pairs could compete.
In China, Sponcil and Claes dropped their first match to Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka. Graudina was a court-one regular for USC this season as a sophomore alongside Abril Bustamante. The two were recently named the 2018 VolleyballMag.com national college beach pair of the year.
Sponcil and Claes went on to win three consecutive matches. They posted straight-set wins over China’s Fan Wang and Xinyi Xia and the U.S.’s Betsi Flint and Emily Day, and a 2-1 win over Spain’s Liliana Fernández Steiner and Elsa Baquerizo McMillan.
But the U.S. pair was eliminated from the tournament following a 2-0 loss to fellow Americans Brooke Sweat and Kerri Walsh Jennings. Sweat and Walsh Jennings claimed the gold at the Itapema Open and went on to win in China, too.
The next four-star tournament on the way to Tokyo is taking place in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The competition began Wednesday, when Sponcil and Claes defeated Karla Borger and Julia Sude of Germany in the main draw.
But the duo was eliminated after a 2-1 loss to Brazil’s Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Rebecca Cavalcanti Barbosa Silva.
Both Sponcil and Claes and the McNamaras will continue international competition this summer on their quest for an Olympic berth. The pairs will have their first opportunity to clinch a guaranteed spot by winning next month’s 2019 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.
Sponcil and Claes will enter the 48-team draw as the No. 14 seed, and the McNamaras will be the No. 34 seed. The 12 pools will be determined Monday.