The first four-star on FIVB World Tour in 2020 is just a few days away. The coronavirus is causing other sporting events around the globe to be canceled but it looks like there is still a green light in Doha. A women’s one-star is wrapping up in Guam tomorrow and collegiate beach volleyball is in full swing for women in America. Also, the African Continental Cup continues to take shape with four countries battling in Nigeria. These stories and more in the latest Dig It! Beach Volleyball Update.

Men’s four-star in the Gulf

I honestly didn’t think this tournament was going to happen. I live in the region and caution regarding the coronavirus is definitely the rule around here. Despite the legitimate concerns regarding international travel, large public gatherings and the spread of the pandemic, the men in the hunt for Tokyo places will have a chance to earn valuable points next week. Alexander Brouwer has already arrived according to his Instagram feed.

Not every team may be welcome to play, however. According to this article , the Italian gymnastics team won’t be competing in an Olympic qualification event scheduled later this month in the same city. The entire gymnastics event will be conducted behind closed doors without fans present. I guess the outdoor stadium environment doesn’t pose the same risk, so beach volleyball gets to continue. In addition, anyone traveling from Italy, regardless of nationality will have to undergo a mandatory 14 day quarantine. That probably means we won’t get to see number 4 seeded Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo in action. As I mentioned in the last post, it seems extremely unfair for some teams to be banned from tournaments while others are free to rack up points at these important Olympic qualification events.

Update March 8, 2020 – Paolo Nicolai posted on Instagram tht he and Daniele Lupo have arrived at the tournament. They have not been in Italy in recent weeks, so they are allowed to play this week.

Jake Gibb and Taylor Crabb won gold in Chetumal, Mexico last time they played. They are looking for more gold next week. Photo by FIVB.

Fighting for Tokyo

For those that are playing, the stakes may be highest for the three American teams battling for two places. The entry rankings have Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena as the 3rd seed, Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb as the 5th seed and Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb have the 8th seed. If Nicolai and Lupo don’t play, they will all move up a spot and won’t see each other in the group stage. I’m looking forward to any head to head match ups between the Americans.

The stakes are also very high for Marco and Esteban Grimalt of Chile and Canadians Sam Pedlow and Sam Schachter The top 15 teams in the Olympic rankings will be playing in Tokyo. While Marco, Esteban and the Sams are on the right side of the top 15 line today, they will have to see off many challengers over the coming months to solidify their places. That will all start this week as Aleksandr Samoilovs & Janis Smedins (Latvia), Nils Ehlers & Lars Flüggen (Germany), Piotr Kantor & Bartosz Losiak (Poland), Robin Seidl & Philipp Waller (Austria), Clemens Doppler & Alexander Horst (Austria), Christiaan Varenhorst & Steven van de Velde (Netherlands) are all with them in the main draw and within striking distance of the coveted top 15 places.

It is also an important tournament for home team Cherif Samba and Ahmed Tijan. Cherif and Ahmed are in strong position to qualify, but need to score some big ranking points at home to ensure a trip to Tokyo.

They’ve still got to pay the bills

The focus of our coronavirus discussion has been on Olympic qualification, but don’t forget that tournaments are the main source of income for these players. Every time a tournament is called off, they lose a chance to earn a paycheck. Us fans are complaining about missing volleyball action, but these guys have to figure out a way to pay the rent.

Olympic rankings animation

Over the past week I’ve been learning a new program called Adobe Animate. My goal is to come up with a better way to show the impact of tournaments on the Olympic rankings. Here is my first attempt at using the program to show the Olympic ranking status so far. The music is by Gray Matter . I’ll make another one of these after most tournaments to show how teams are moving up and down the rankings. A women’s version is on the way, too.

African Continental Cup update

The second round of the CAVB’s Continental Cup is underway in Nigeria. The women’s group C started on March 4th and includes Nigeria, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. Four men’s and four women’s groups will compete this month. The Beach Volley Blog’s Continental Cup pages have been updated for Africa’s women and men to reflect the new information. The top two teams in each group will play in the Continental Cup final in June.

Japan and USA to battle for Gold and Bronze in Guam

The Guam semifinals take place tomorrow, in one of the most beautiful place the world tour visits this year. We already know which nations will be playing for the medals. That is because semifinal number one is an all American encounter and semifinal number two features two Japanese teams. Japan had an incredible five teams in the quarterfinals. Japanese semifinalists, Yurika Sakaguchi and Chiyo Suzuki pushed Sarah Hughes and Lauren Fendrick to the absolute limit in the semifinals at Siem Reap last month. They’ll try to upgrade from bronze to gold on Guam.

Teams enter one-star tournaments for many reasons. They are a great chance for young teams and new partnerships to get international experience. They are also a good way to get some international ranking points in order to qualify for bigger events later on in the summer. Americans Sarah Schermerhorn and Kimberly Hildreth had a great summer on the AVP last year and have to start at the bottom of the FIVB world before they can replicate their success overseas. Their semifinal opponents will be a couple of 17-year-olds from San Diego, Megan Kraft and Delaynie Maple.

Sarah Schermerhorn of the USA gets up to block Japan in the 1/4 finals. Photo by FIVB.

College beach volleyball power moves east

The dominance of the California schools has been undeniable since beach volleyball became an NCAA sport in 2015. This year the spread of the game’s influence is evident by the big victories from teams in the southeast. The season is only a week old and Louisiana State University has defeated defending champions, University of California, Los Angeles and the University of South Carolina has beaten the only other team to win a national championship, the University of Southern California. Great beach volleyball players are springing up all over the country and that is good news for the future of women’s beach volleyball in America.