DENVER, Colorado — Six players made their first AVP main draws on Friday afternoon on the opening day of this weekend’s Tour Series.
One of them has already made nearly half a million in prize money.
Alvaro Filho, one of the most talented defenders of this generation of Brazilians, and Jeremy Casebeer, an AVP champion, presented a draw so brutal, as the 20th seed in Friday’s qualifier, that their first two opponents forfeited. Joking, of course. Fourth of July weekend rendered traveling across the country difficult for a number of players in Denver, and so Casebeer and Filho waited … and waited … and waited, all the way until nearly 3 p.m. for their first match of the day, which would also be their final match of the day.
They handled the long wait well enough, sweeping Zephyr Dew and Owen Karleznig 21-18, 21-15, sealing up, as funny as it sounds, the first AVP main draw of Alvaro’s career, which includes 15 medals on the FIVB and an Olympic Games in 2021.
Not all of the rookies have a resume quite as esteemed, nor did they have quite as boring of a day.
Andrew Holman, blocking for TJ Jurko, worked plenty hard enough for his first main draw, winning his final match 19-21, 22-20, 15-13 over Frank Field and Garrett Bucklin. Ty Coutts, a 30-year-old native of Colorado Springs, made his first main draw in his tenth time of asking. Playing with fellow local Ian Carlson, Coutts won his final match, against JD Hamilton and Christian Honer, 21-17, 18-21, 15-12, to extend their weekend in front of a home crowd.
The final male making his AVP main draw debut is Daniel Tran, playing with a precocious talent in 19-year-old Thomas Hurst. Tran and Hurst upset top-seeded Steven Roschitz and Pete Connole, 20-22, 24-22, 15-13, their second three-setter of the day.
Others punching their ticket into the main draw included Kevin Coyle and Dan Leathers; Cash Adamsen and Ben Vaught; Cody Caldwell and Ryan Meehan; and Ryan Ierna and Diego Perez, who won the longest, most thrilling match of the day, a 15-21, 33-31, 19-17 high-stress affair over Cole Aidnik and Nemanja Komar.
Two women made their own personal histories on Friday in Denver. Alaina Chacon, defending for Kylie Deberg, made her first main draw in upsetting top-seeded Iya Lindahl and Tiffany Creamer, 21-19, 21-12. And UCLA standout Natalie Myszkowski, playing with the recently married Nicci Reinking, is…
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