Updated July 29, 2020, by Kim Smith
Beach volleyball is back.
And though it looks a little different, all your favorite elements of the game are there – all of the top teams, your Amazon crew, and DJ Roueche’s beats. Mark Schuermann will be everywhere from your Instagram feed to Court 1 (which is technically Stadium Court with no fans 😭) to the Amazon booth. We miss your smiling faces, raucous cheers, and costumes on the sand, but you’re just as much a part of this year as any!
We’re now two weeks in and the stage is set for the Porsche Cup. Phil/Nick and April/Alix have all but clinched the top Prize Purse, but the 2nd and 3rd places are up for grabs between a few teams on each side. Check our trending articles for all the details and daily recaps. Now that it’s Week 3 and we’re moving onto the Porsche Cup, a few things have changed while others remain the same.
SEEDING
Teams have been reseeded on their performance in the first two events based on the seed index method. Seed index is the average finishing position of the team – a lower seed index will award a better ranking.
For example, if Beasley/Halpert gain the following results:
Event 1: 5th | Event 2: 7th
Their seed index would be the following:
Event 2 = 5.00 – Calculation: 5/1
Event 3 = 6.00 – Calculation: (5+7)/2
Any ties in the seed index after event #2 will be broken by the higher most recent finish (Wilson Cup). If two teams have the same finishes in both, we’ll seed off of who won the head to head in event #2. If there was no head to head, teams are ordered based on higher event #2 set ratio (ratio of sets won vs sets lost). If still tied, then point ratio of event #2 (ratio of points won vs points lost).
All of this math was calculated by the AVP and is available at the bottom of the Champions Cup Homepage. Most teams moved up or down only a few spots, as you can see on AVP’s Instagram. A few noteworthy mentions:
Ty Loomis and Miles Partain move up 5 seeds with their Qualification points from the Wilson Cup last weekend. They now have a bye in the Qualifier, but their game to get in is against fellow Wilson Cup Qualifier Ricardo Santos and Miles Evans.
Emily Day and Lauren Fendrick reclaimed their spot in the Main Draw, and Traci Callahan and Crissy Jones will have to, once again, battle it out on Friday.
Corinne Quiggle and Allie Wheeler only move up 3 spots, BUT they now have a bye in the first round of the Quali. They save their legs and the potential of being upset by another team.
INJURY UPDATES
Sean Rosenthal is still out with a shoulder injury. Bill Kolinske and Mark Burik lost a close one last weekend to Ricardo and Miles Evans 12-15 in the third.
Piotr Marciniak suffered a rough finger injury last week (the third time he’s injured that finger in four years). He and Rafu Rodriguez forfeited their match and Piotr went to the hospital, potentially for surgery. Luckily for him (and for us), he’ll be back in action this week with just a tendon injury.
Karissa Cook is back! She and Jace Pardon will move up the ranks to the #2 seed in the Quali as per the injury rules outlined in an email to all the athletes.
Reminder – for any team that subs an alternate, all three players are ineligible to win prize money in the Champions Purse as the Purse requires a team to compete together in all three Cups.
HOW THE TOURNAMENT WORKS
Mark Schuermann broke down the Qualifier and Main Draw format a couple of weeks ago, and brackets are live. Check those to see who will be playing who and when. The format will be the same as last weekend except we’ll switch the timing of Men and Women’s matches – women will play first on Saturday and Men first on Sunday. Only two teams per gender will be eliminated on Saturday.
I’ll keep you updated on what happened each day with a daily Recap on AVP.com/Trending – going over winners, stats, and exciting moments. I’ll also have a full Porsche Cup Recap the Tuesday following the event (August 4th). I’m the AVP’s professional fan during this series. I’ll watch it, write about it, and paint the picture for you, Dear Fan. We’re in this together. So much will happen this final weekend, and I’ll be here to walk us through it.
HOW TO WATCH THE PORSCHE CUP
Main Draw: As always, we will be streaming all matches Saturday and Sunday matches on Amazon Prime Video. This week, NBCSN will broadcast one of the two Porsche Cup Finals on Sunday, 8/2 at 10:30PM PST.
Qualifier: The AVP Champions Cup Series Qualifiers have been high-drama and filled with exceptional talent; we know you want to continue being a part of it. For tomorrow’s Porsche Cup Qualifiers, Mark will be covering all three courts throughout the day on AVP’s Instagram page (@AVPBeach). Since the Qualifiers will not stream on Amazon Prime Video, we’ll also be directing you to athletes live-streaming their matches on their social channels so you can watch every point. I’ll be running from court to court again to make sure streams don’t drop, as we know that has happened a few times. I feel the pain of both the athletes when their stream fails and the fans when it drops in the middle of the third set. I’ve made it my mission to keep streams up as best as possible, but I’m only one person; so be patient!
Live stream or not, we’ll still be giving you tons of live plays on our Instagram Stories and Instagram Grid. Plus, our stat-keeping and scoring system received a major overhaul. For updates – follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. To get real-time coverage, turn on your Live Videos notifications on AVP’s Instagram to Post, Stories, and IGTV push notifications.
