Budinger and Evans win four times and reach the semi-finals – Daily Bulletin

MANHATTAN BEACH – After Chase Budinger and Miles Evans lost early in the AVP Tour’s Manhattan Beach Open on Friday morning, the pair knew they had a long road through the Contenders bracket ahead of them.

When the ball hit the sand, giving Budinger and Evans their fourth win on Saturday, the crowd roared.

It is not the first time Budinger and Evans have been in this situation. At last year’s Manhattan Beach Open, a hurricane forced them to rescheduled their matches, forcing them to play four matches in one day.

The difference this year, however, is that Budinger and Evans did not drop a single set on their way to the semifinals on Saturday.

“We had a couple of three-set matches that exhausted us (last year) and we had nothing left,” Budinger said.

Budinger and Evans played in Paris last week and said they had to get used to the ball after using the international ball for so long.

“This tournament was a new feeling for us, especially as we were getting used to the AVP ball again,” said Budinger.

Evans and Budinger will compete against fellow Olympic athletes Andy Benesh and Miles Partain on Sunday.

In the women’s singles, Julia Scoles’ game-winning block gave her and Betsi Flint a win over Savannah Simo and Abby van Winkle in a three-set match in which they were behind on several crucial points.

The defending champions of the Manhattan Beach Open emerged victorious with scores of 21-17, 18-21 and 17-15.

Last year, Scoles and Flint made it through the Contenders round to win the event after losing their first meeting of the tournament. This time, the pair played as few sets as possible to reach the fourth round of the tournament.

“My body actually feels fresh since I don’t have to play the maximum number of games every other hour,” Flint said. “We try to take advantage of every opportunity we get.”

Before Scoles and Flint won on Court 1, Benesh and Partain dueled against the second-seeded team Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander. Benesh and Partain took a lengthy second set and won 27-25 against the defending champions.

In addition to the match in Paris, where they lost in the quarterfinals, Benesh and Partain are playing their fifth tournament in eight weeks, but Partain says he is “more excited about volleyball than he has been in a long time.”

“Before the Olympics, I was happy to be here, but it was not a great pleasure,” said Partain.

Pertain mentioned that he wants to stay in beach volleyball and eventually build a business where he can create content around beach volleyball as a resource for younger players.

“I wish I had this (resource) so everyone could access it instead of learning from a specific person,” Pertain said.