Olympic Medalists and the World’s No. 3 Team Join the AVP Huntington Beach Open
The AVP is excited to announce three international wildcard teams joining the field at the 2026 AVP Huntington Beach Open on May 15-17 – the first Heritage event of the 2026 season. These six athletes bring Olympic medals, World Championship appearances, and current top-10 FIVB World Rankings to the Huntington Beach Pier next week. The addition of these world class athletes to this AVP Heritage Major event on the beaches of Southern California is historic and exciting for beach volleyball fans all over the world.
Get your tickets now as this event will sell out quickly. Tune in at Bally Sports Live to see exciting USA vs matches all over the event schedule each day – which will be posted in the next few days at AVP.com
The three teams: Brazil’s Thâmela Coradello and Victoria Lopes, Switzerland’s Anouk and Zoé Vergé-Dépré, and Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan.
Brazil — Thâmela Coradello & Victoria Lopes Current FIVB World Ranking: #3
Thâmela and Victoria are currently ranked third in the world, one spot ahead of AVP League athletes Kristen Nuss Cruz and Taryn Brasher who sit fourth. In their first full season as a partnership, they climbed to World #1 in May 2025, won three Beach Pro Tour Elite16 gold medals, and finished fourth at the 2025 World Championships in Adelaide. Thâmela was named the 2025 Women’s Beach Pro Tour Most Improved Player.
Switzerland — Anouk & Zoé Vergé-Dépré Current FIVB World Ranking: #8
Anouk and Zoé are sisters who spent years competing as rivals before officially teaming up in November 2024. They are currently ranked eighth in the world, one spot ahead of AVP League athletes Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson who sit ninth. Anouk is a Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medalist and two-time Olympian. Zoé finished fifth at the Paris 2024 Olympics with a different partner. In their debut season together in 2025, they reached the FIVB World Ranking top 10 and medaled in three consecutive Beach Pro Tour events.
Qatar — Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan Current FIVB World Ranking: #6 (tied)
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Cherif and Ahmed defeated AVP League athletes Miles Partain and Andy Benesh in the quarterfinals, knocking the American duo out of the tournament. They are Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medalists who finished fourth in Paris, and are currently tied for sixth in the world. Born 24 days apart in West Africa — Cherif in Senegal, Ahmed in The Gambia — both emigrated to Qatar and built the country’s beach volleyball program from scratch, winning Qatar’s first-ever Olympic beach volleyball medal in Tokyo before adding three Beach Pro Tour Elite16 gold medals in 2025, including one on American sand at Newport Beach.
The AVP Huntington Beach Open will be held at the Huntington Beach Pier, May 15-17. The event is a dual gender, 16-team main draw, double-elimination tournament. Sets will be played to 21 points, best two of three. For full event details, visit the event page. Get your tickets here.
AVP members get 10% off all event tickets, 25% off AVP merch, and 30% off Wilson volleyballs. Join at members.avp.com.