Going into the USA Volleyball High Performance Beach Championships, Abril Bustamante was set to leave her mark in the elite beach volleyball tournament by capturing gold in the Girls U19 Division.
Plans changed, however, a day before competition featuring teams from the U.S., Canada and Australia began on Thursday, July 16, in Hermosa Beach.
USAV coaches made the decision to move Bustamante, 17, of Redondo Beach, into the Women’s U21/U23 competition and, for only the third time in her career, was partnered with Sarah Sponcil, an 18-year-old college sophomore who plays indoor and beach volleyball at Loyola Marymount University.
The strong chemistry between the players had not seemed to diminish since the duo had won the CBVA Hermosa Open on May 23.
Bustamante and Sponcil did not lose a match during two days of competition, defeating Pepperdine junior Delaney Knudsen and USC sophomore Nicolette Martin 21-17, 21-18, 15-13 to win the gold medal.
“It was totally different, and a little intimidating, to play in the higher division against many college players,” said Bustamante, a member of Redondo Union’s 2014 CIF state championship indoor volleyball team who will begin her sand volleyball career at USC in the fall. “I think it helped us play at a higher level and it was fun to win the gold.”
Bustamante plans to take a break before competing in the AVP Manhattan Beach Open Aug. 14-16.
The Women’s U21/U23 bronze medal match featured two standouts from Manhattan Beach. Florida State senior and former Mira Costa star Jace Pardon teamed with Jansen Button, a Georgia State senior from Menifee, to capture the bronze with a 25-23, 14-21, 15-9 victory over recent Mira Costa graduate Skylar Caputo and Madilyn Roh of Scottsdale, Ariz.
Caputo and Roh will begin their college careers as teammates at Pepperdine.
The Boys U15 Division also had a local flavor with five South Bay athletes winning medals in the Gold Bracket.
Manhattan Beach’s Will Campbell and Miles Partain (Pacific Palisades) captured the gold with a 21-14, 21-15 victory over silver-medalists Aaron Phan (Manhattan Beach) and Eric Yeich (Palos Verdes Estates).
The tournament marked the first time Campbell and Partain had played together but have faced each during the last three years.
“We know each other’s tendencies and what we are capable of,” Campbell said. “Winning the HP event is exciting because the competition is so great with teams coming from all over the country.”
Sebastian Rodriguez (Hermosa Beach) and Luke Snyder (Manhattan Beach) earned bronze medals with a win over Philip Catanzaro (Ohio) and Hayden Frear (Colorado).
In other competition at Hermosa Beach, the Canadian team of Gabriel Burlacu and Sergey Grabovsky won Men’s U21/U23 gold with a 21-15, 19-21, 15-8 victory over UCLA sophomores Hagen Smith and Jackson Bantle from Pacific Palisades.
In the Girl’s U13 Division, San Pedro’s Savannah Standage and Peyton Duek (Aptos) defeated the Texan team of Camden Doucet and Elin Kaiser 21-19, 21-10 in the gold-medal match.
Halia Mahi (Iowa) and Alyssa Muraoka (Hawaii) won bronze.
The Texan team of Megan Deterling and Madeline Kirz won the Girl’s U15 gold medal with a 21-11 win over the Florida duo of Madison Daum and Jessica Maxon.
Manhattan Beach’s Maya Harvey won bronze with partner Noell Weintraub.
On Friday, action moved to Santa Monica where the Boys and Girls U19 and U17 tournaments were held.
Manhattan Beach’s Rob Mullahey and teammate Aidan Brown took home silver medals in the Boy’s U19 competition, falling to Will Bantle and Tanner Woods 21-15, 21-17 in the gold-medal match.
In the Girl’s U19 Division, Manhattan Beach’s Grace Campbell and Mia Merino (Tustin) got off to a slow start Sunday morning, losing their first two contests which dropped the future UC Berkeley teammates into the Bronze Bracket.
The duo proceeded to win the bracket with four straight victories and finish the two days of competition with an 8-2 record.
Savvy Simo (Rancho Santa Fe) and Isabelle Carey (Westlake Village) won the Gold Bracket with a 21-16, 21-16 decision over Floridians Brooke Bauer and Madison Fitpatrick. Francesca Goncalves (Texas) and Brooke Burling (Illinois) won bronze medals.
In Boy’s U17 competition, local players Logan Glave (Hermosa Beach) and Luke Grafton (Manhattan Beach) won bronze medals.
John Schwengel (Santa Monica) and Marcus Partain (Pacific Palisades) defeated Clay Messenger and Adam Wienckowski, of Florida, in the gold-medal match.
Hermosa Beach’s Maddi Micheletti and Lauren White also earned bronze medals in the Girl’s U17 competition.
Sammy Slater (Ventura) and Haley Halgren (Texas) defeated Cami Sanchez (Huntington Beach) and Maja Kaiser (Texas) in the gold-medal match.
For complete results, visit teamusa.org.
