Ask any athlete on the AVP Tour – partner selection and team chemistry is arguably the most important part of success as an AVP Beach Pro. A good team partnership is like a passionate relationship under pressure.
Very often, integral partner switches cause a domino effect in the ranks and these shakeups could see a huge shift in the field of competition this year. The past few weeks have been full of partner switches, injuries, trades and goodbyes. Here’s a quick highlight on a few exciting developments:
Sean Rosenthal / Jeremy Casebeer
Maybe one of the most exciting new partnerships to develop over the past 3 weeks is the pairing of “Rosie” and “The Lorax”. Two extremely athletic and explosive athletes joining forces could give us some thrills from the sidelines. Their first event together was in New York City last week and right out of the gate these two have delivered with a finals appearance and a second place finish to the dominant Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena. We are expecting good things from this new pairing. Keep an eye on these two for the remainder of the season.
Emily Day / Brittney Hochevar
After their Olympic qualification run came to an end this year, Emily Day & Jen Kessy decided to part ways as a team after two seasons together. This left them both open to new options and right away Emily Day grabbed Brittney Hochevar to try their chemistry together in San Francisco. We’ll see how this partnership develops through the end of this season.
Robbie Page / Casey Jennings
The young and extremely tall talent of Robbie meets the experience and savy of Jennings in this new pairing. This partnership may be a lesson in patience and perseverance as the two suffered a 13th place last week in NYC but have shown signs of positive chemistry in San Francisco with a gritty 3-set win on Friday.
Jen Fopma / Jen Kessy
Another women’s team that went flip-flop and joined the switch from Em/Jen & Jen/Britt to the new pairings of Jen/Jen and Em/Britt. Another first event together in San Francisco – this team has a lot of fire and experience so we’ll see what they can accomplish and how they jive over the last few tournaments of the 2016 season.
Theo Brunner / Billy Allen
For a partnership born out of necessity – with both of these young men having partners (Stafford Slick & Sean Rosenthal) suffer injuries in New Orleans – Billy and Theo clicked immediately. In just their second tournament together they pulled out an incredible win in the AVP Seattle Open. Coached by Rich Lambourne, the defensive style of play these two execute on court is both fundamentally sound and exciting.