Miles Partain, Andy Benesh break USA’s 6-year-long losing streak against Volley Vikings
They’ve tried. Many of them. Twenty-six times before Thursday morning in Switzerland for the Gstaad Elite16 had American teams matched up against Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum on the FIVB circuit. Only once had a USA pair bested the 2021 Olympic gold medalists and 2022 World Champions. That came at this very same Switzerland tournament, in 2017, when a 44-year-old John Hyden, defending for Ryan Doherty, beat the then-up-and-coming Beach Volley Vikings, just their second match against an American pair.
The Norwegians won the next 24 against USA teams. But that long run came to an end on Thursday, when Andy Benesh and Miles Partain, in their first meeting with Norway, stunned Mol and Sorum, 19-21, 22-24, 12-15, in the first round of pool play at the Volleyball World Gstaad Elite16.
“Match was a battle,” Partain said. “We tried to play hard all the way through, and Andy played great. It’s the same sport as back home once you’re on the court.”
Against, of course, a team at a level which no pair in the USA — or the world, for that matter — can match. Briefly, it appeared Benesh and Partain would go the way of so many other teams who meet Norway for the first time. It took Mol and Sorum little time to establish a 9-5 lead, which became 18-12. Then Benesh, who has finished in the top three in total blocks in tournaments in Itapema, Saquarema and Ostrava, found his timing against Mol, blocking the Americans back to a 19-20 deficit, a 7-2 run that nearly became an 8-2 run. A Benesh block on set point was covered by Mol, who spun and put away the finishing touch for the opening set, 21-19, but the message had evidently been sent: Benesh and Partain could compete with the world’s best.
A 7-4 lead in the second was extended to 12-9, then 17-14, until Mol flipped it once more, blocking Benesh enough to retake the lead at 20-19. And then it was Benesh again finding his block, stuffing Sorum and then, two points later, blocking a Mol angle swing for a 24-22 second-set win.
Going to three with Norway is one thing. Mol and Sorum had gone to three 13 times this season. They’d only lost once.
A 4-1 lead for Benesh and Partain quickly disappeared, dissolving into a 5-5 tie. Even it stayed through 12-12, at which point Partain did what the world is rapidly discovering he can do, taking over with an option swing to keep the lead at 13-12. He watched as a Sorum line swing sailed long and wide, and on the first match point, he dug another line swing and converted in transition, showing no fear with a sharp angle swing around Mol’s block for a critical and unprecedented win in pool.
It was their only match of the day, but their work is far from over. On Friday, they’ll have two matches, against Alex Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen of the Netherlands, and Czech Republic qualifiers Tomas Semerad and Jakub Sepka. But it was, to be sure, a monumental win, another in an increasingly long line of them. In the Ostrava Elite16, where Partain and Benesh won bronze, they knocked off Poland’s Bartosz Losiak and Michal Bryl, Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig, and the Czech Republic’s David Schweiner and Ondrej Perusic for bronze. When including Mol and Sorum, Partain and Benesh have now topped four of the top five teams in the world.
American women start strong in Gstaad Elite16
Also hot in Switzerland are Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles. After winning a pair of three-setters in Wednesday’s qualifier, Flint and Scoles won both of their pool-play matches on Thursday, topping Sarah Sponcil and Terese Cannon (21-16, 21-14) and Brazil’s Agatha and Rebecca (23-21, 21-17). It assures Flint and Scoles a spot in the weekend’s playoffs, and a victory over Duda and Ana Patricia on Friday will earn them a bye straight into the quarterfinals.
Cannon and Sponcil, who also lost to Duda and Ana Patricia (12-21, 22-24) are in a win-and-in situation on Friday, requiring a victory over Agatha and Rebecca, who are likewise 0-2 in pool.
Similar to Flint and Scoles, Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, and Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, finished the day undefeated, with guaranteed spots in the weekend’s playoffs.
Cheng and Hughes swept the host wild cards, Zoe Verge-Depre and Esmee Bobner (21-17, 21-12) and won an excellent match over the Netherlands’ Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon (21-17, 18-21, 19-17). Nuss and Kloth also began with a sweep, over Italy’s Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti (21-19, 21-17) and upset the fourth-seeded hosts, Tanja Huberli and Nina Brunner (21-14, 20-22, 18-16).
All matches are shown on Volleyball TV. Use the promo code VOLLEYBALLMAG for a discount on monthly or annual subscriptions.
The post Miles Partain, Andy Benesh break USA’s 6-year-long losing streak against Volley Vikings appeared first on Volleyballmag.com.