14YO US Dream Diminishes, as Rising Beach Volleyball Duo Suffers Massive Fallout at World Championship Quarterfinals

The US beach volleyball teams have had a blast of a world championship campaign this season in Mexico. With multiple American teams in the run for the gold medal, the US looked in a very strong position. However, one of its promising beach volleyball duos hit a wall in a major matchup.

The men’s duo of Andy Benesh and Miles Partain enjoyed a strong start to the 2023 World Championships. The young players managed to overcome all hurdles presented before them in the qualifiers and sealed a quarter-final berth. But, the team met a really strong force in the quarter-final round, which diminished a 14-year-old US dream.

US duo faces adversity against strong Polish offense

Andy Benesh and Miles Partain faced Poland’s Michał Bryl and Bartosz Łosiak in the quarter-final round. The first set started on an equal footing and the Polish team beat Benesh and Partain in a close contest of 21-19. Bryl and Łosiak utilized their penetrative offensive strength to tear through the American defense which greatly stunned the US. In fact, their high attacking prowess forced Benesh and Partain to concede several points via errors.

Building pressure on your opponents is key to any volleyball match, and Poland did exactly that. Their high-caliber offense forced the US to give away 12 points via errors. While the first set was a close call, the Poles stomped the Americans with a 21-16 win. The 31-point Polish attack also consisted of four clean service aces, with the US having no answers of their own. 

The big loss resulted in the diminishing of the 14-year-long American dream of a beach volleyball world title. The US last won a world championship gold in 2009. While Benesh and Partain exited the tournament in the quarters, two women’s teams and a men’s duo made it to the semis. But, a whirlwind awaited the US teams along the tough road to the finals.

The last American beach volleyball duo standing

With Benesh and Partain down, the US still had three teams alive in the contest to bring the gold home. However, a storm of natural selection uprooted two of the teams from the contest. The men’s duo of Trevor Crabbe and Trent Brunner got eliminated in the semis just like Benesh and Partain. The beach volleyball team lost to Czechia in a clean sweep and will now head into the bronze medal match. 

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Shockingly, the women’s division went through an even greater cataclysm as both American women’s duo faced each other. The pair of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth went head to head against Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng in a deadly close contest. The spectators watched open-mouthed as Cheng and Hughes completely demolished Kloth and Nuss despite a first-set loss.

In fact, Hughes and Cheng crushed the second set with a towering 21-12 win. The duo will now face Brazil in the finals and aim to win the gold. Will Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng be able to break America’s 14-year-long title drought?

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