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Dalhausser declares free agency as AVP (now on ESPN) opens in Miami; VW opens in Mexico

Dalhausser declares free agency as AVP (now on ESPN) opens in Miami; VW opens in Mexico

Two professional beach volleyball tournaments get underway Thursday as both the AVP and Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour kick off their seasons.
The AVP is in Miami Beach, while Volleyball World is in La Paz, Mexico. There are top Americans in both.
In this report, we have news from our interview with Phil Dalhausser, who is in Miami, finally some info about how to watch the AVP, and a look at who’s in Mexico:

Phil Dalhausser’s partnership plans for the AVP season don’t extend beyond the opening event.

The seemingly ageless former Olympic gold medalist, who won three AVP titles with different partners in 2022, will play this weekend in the Pro Series stop at Miami Beach’s oceanside Lummus Park with Troy Field. Dalhausser’s immediate goal is to help his new partner win his first AVP tournament.

Beyond that, who knows?

“I’m a free agent,” Dalhausser said during a lengthy interview this week with VolleyballMag.com. “I had a lot of fun last year playing with all those different guys. I got to split-block in one tournament with [6-foot-9] Andy Benesch, which was awesome, and we got him his first win.

“I am going to play with Troy this weekend and then we’ll see what happens after that. Troy has been knocking on the door of winning an AVP for a while now and I want to see if I can help him get his first ‘W.’ Troy’s a really good guy and I would like to get him that first win this weekend. That would be awesome.”

Field, 29, joined the AVP tour in 2017 and is 0-for-32, having advanced to finals twice and semifinals four times. Field played with Chase Budinger during the 2022 season and had one second, two thirds and two fifths in eight tournaments. In their only shot at a title, Field and Budginger were bounced in straight sets by Dalhausser and Benesh in Austin, Texas.

Dalhausser and Field played in the Queen & King of the Court event last weekend on Miami Beach, but were eliminated early on. Dalhausser lamented that they might have been on the court for “five minutes,” and thus did not get much quality get-acquainted time.

At age 43 and 20 years into a legendary career on the beach that began in 2003, Dalhausser still remains capable of replicating the dominating “The Thin Beast” who represented the United States in the Olympics in 2008 (winning the gold medal), ‘12, ‘16 and ‘21. After stepping away from international competition following a ninth-place finish in the 2021 Tokyo Games,…

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