Paris Elite16 101: Alix Klineman to make her post-partum debut on Wednesday
The unofficial fall break, the six-week beach volleyball hiatus between the Hamburg Elite16 and this week’s Paris Elite16, comes to an end on Wednesday, kicking off a second season of sorts that won’t end until December’s World Tour Finals.
It also happens to be arguably the most critical stretch of the Paris Olympic quad.
The following 11 weeks include Elite16s in Paris and Brazil — an Elite in Dubai is unlikely to be held as scheduled in early November — the World Championships in Mexico, and four Challenges, an almost non-stop blitz that will reshape the landscape of the Olympic qualifying race. Being the first stop of that run of events, the importance of Paris cannot be understated, as points earned in this weekend’s Elite16 will impact seeding and entry points for every event through the remainder of the season.
None more so than Hailey Harward and Alix Klineman.
Welcome back to the beach, Alix Klineman
While every other athlete has taken a six-week break, Klineman is on the heels of nearly two years off and is just three months post-partum from having her son, Theo. The fact that Klineman is healthy enough to play this quickly is remarkable in itself, and both she and Harward are under no illusions that they will vault straight to the top of the Olympic rankings with a few decent finishes. They’re chasing two of the top teams in the world in Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth (No. 3) and Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes (No. 4). They are under a time crunch with which no other team in the world can empathize, and that crunch makes virtually every match, and particularly the one-and-done qualifier matches on Wednesday, must-watch VolleyballTV.
They begin with Ukraine’s Ievgeniia Baieva and Valentyna Davidova, a sneaky good team who upset Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova at this year’s European Championships…which is exactly who they are likely to play should they win their first round, as the Latvians play Finland’s tireless duo, Niina Ahtiainen and Taru Lahti.
Alix Klineman celebrates a point in 2021/FIVB photo
Introducing Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft
While Harward and Klineman are making a late push at the Paris Olympics, Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft are competing simply because playing beach volleyball is what they do. Cannon and Sarah Sponcil had once been as high as No. 4 in the world in the Olympic rankings, but after a string of discouraging finishes, Sponcil decided to sign with the upstart Grand Rapids Rise of the PVF, which took them out of the running for Paris 2024 (Sponcil did emphasize that she is not ruling out a potential Olympic run on the beach for the 2028 Los Angeles Games). Kraft, meanwhile, competed this season with Emily Stockman, who retired after the Chicago Gold Series on Labor Day Weekend.
On paper, it seems an odd mix, a pair of blockers with a grand total of one tournament in which either of them played any defense. That came in 2021 for Kraft when she split-blocked at the Manhattan Beach Open with Graudina, her partner at USC. But Kraft has more experience playing defense than her professional resume suggests, as she split with Graudina for an entire year at USC, winning one of Kraft’s three NCAA Championships in the process. An Elite16 is a different level than the NCAA, of course, but still: She’s capable in the backcourt, and Paris will be an effective tuneup for the two as they prepare for next week’s World Championships.
Sarah Pavan and Molly McBain’s big chance
Pavan and McBain aren’t Americans, but our Neighbors Up North still deserve some virtual ink because of how intriguing the Canadian race has suddenly become. With the Canadian federation awarding Pavan and McBain the berth into World Championships, it is no longer that wild of a possibility that they can qualify for the Paris Games on points. They are currently ranked No. 40 in the race and only have five finishes. To upset their way into the main draw in Paris, perhaps break pool, and follow it up with a top-10 at World Championships would make things awfully interesting.
The top Canadian spot is essentially secured by Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, who are seeded third and have medaled in three of their previous four events, including gold at the Montreal Elite16.
Canada’s Sarah Pavan during the Tokyo Olympics/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
Will Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk hop on the struggle bus?
In my Road to Paris series breaking down the Olympic race, I have a segment called the Struggle Bus, informing viewers of which teams are in need of a good finish after a string of not-so-good finishes. Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk, after a ninth at the Edmonton Challenge and a first round qualifier exit at the Montreal Elite16, have made their way to the Struggle Bus Stop.
Will they hitch a ride in Paris, or will they find the groove they’ve been looking for since they teamed up in December? Their draw is, as far as Elite16s go, favorable, with a first-round matchup against Chile’s Grimalt cousins, a team against whom Bourne has never lost. The winner of that matchup will meet the winner of Australia’s Thomas Hodges and Zac Schubert and France’s Aye brothers, Quincy and Calvin.
Given that Bourne and Schalk are in the Pool of Death at next week’s World Championships, getting a good finish in Paris is all the more important.
Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk celebrate a win at AVP New Orleans/Mpu Dinani photo
Chase Budinger, Miles Evans and a much-needed Elite16 breakthrough
The USA men’s team with the most on the line in Paris is, with little doubt, Chase Budinger and Miles Evans. They are currently the first team on the reserve list for World Championships, and are therefore likely to miss out on the biggest point-scoring opportunity in the Olympic race. With the Dubai Elite16 in November likely off, that makes the stakes in Paris considerably higher. A poor finish in Paris and there is little chance they’ll be able to get into the Elite16 in Brazil in November, relegating them to Challenges moving forward.
It won’t be easy.
They will meet the Netherlands’ Robert Meeuwsen and Alex Brouwer in the first round and likely Spain’s Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera in the second.
Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner can extend their lead
Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner are the USA team with the least amount of pressure on Wednesday. Yes, everyone wants to qualify, and doing so is no easy feat. But they’re already leading Bourne and Schalk, and the pressure for them to make the main draw isn’t anywhere close to as high as their American rivals, especially since they have a friendly pool at the World Championships. Their draw in the qualifier isn’t great, seeing the Netherlands’ Steven van de Velde and Matthew Immers in the first round, and either Brazil’s Renato Lima and Vitor Felipe or Austria’s Julian Horl and Alexander Horst in the second.
Regardless of what happens, they’re still in good shape.
All matches can be seen on Volleyball World TV. Use “VOLLEYBALLMAG” for a discount.
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