Men’s Volleyball | August 03, 2024
PARIS, France – USC men’s volleyball All-American setter Micah Christenson (Honolulu, Hawai’i/Kamehameha-Kapalama HS) and the U.S. men’s national team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Olympic tournament. Andy Benesh (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) and partner Miles Partain moved into the round of 16 in the men’s beach volleyball tournament.
Christenson—who won bronze with Team USA at the 2016 Rio Games—is the starting setter for the U.S. men and helped lead Team USA to a 3-0 mark in pool play. The Americans opened with a straight-set win, 25-20, 25-19, 25-16, over Argentina behind a 23-assist outing from Christenson who also had one service ace and one dig in the victory.
The U.S. men moved to 2-0 in pool play on a hard-fought five-set win over Germany, 25-21, 25-17, 17-25, 20-25, 15-11. In the win, Christenson had 39 assists, three digs, and a block. USA secured a top seed in the quarterfinal round with a resounding four-set win, 25-16, 25-18, 18-25, 25-19, over Japan as Christenson tallied 29 assists, five digs, three kills, and a block.
Up next, Christenson leads the American men into a quarterfinal bout with Brazil, set for a noon PT start on Monday, Aug. 5.
Benesh—a four-year starter who graduated in 2017—and Partain comprise the 11th-ranked men’s beach volleyball duo in the world. The pair finished 2-1 in Pool D for second place. They began with a narrow straight-set loss, 21-18, 21-18, to the Cuban pair of Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz, but responded with a 21-12, 28-26 win over Morocco’s Mohammed Abicha and Zouheir Elgraoui. In a pivotal third match, Benesh-Partain sealed their spot in the knockout rounds with a hard-fought three-set win, 21-17, 14-21, 15-8, over the world’s No. 2-ranked pair of Andre Loyola and George Wanderley of Brazil.
Benesh and Partain take on the world’s sixth-ranked pair of Samuele Cottafava and Paolo Nicolai on Sunday (Aug. 5) at 8 a.m. PT.
Pairs in the Olympic beach volleyball tournament played three matches in pool play for the right to advance to the single-elimination tournament….
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