HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. — If you’re looking for a small slice of beach volleyball comedy, you can find it on Volleyball TV or YouTube. Rewind to April 6, qualifier day of the Itapema Challenge. Andy Benesh and Miles Partain — current world No. 3, Gstaad Elite16 gold medalists, winners of two straight AVPs, the most successful USA partnership since Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena teamed up in 2015 — were matched against a Hungarian pair few outside of Hungary or current players are likely to have heard of.
Itapema would be a late start for most teams but earlier than expected for Partain and Benesh. Partain left UCLA, where he was the starting setter, early to pursue an Olympic run in earnest. Their offense, heavy on jump-setting — a skill Benesh had never before tried — and ball control — something that was Benesh’s frequent undoing in previous years — had yet to be tested. Their defense, with a heavy dose of angle blocks and late line moves from Benesh, had yet to be unveiled in competition.
“We had a two-hour phone call and we decided we were going to live by the sword and die by the sword,” Benesh said. “If it doesn’t work, we’re going to keep failing until it works.”
Artur Hajos and Bence Streli nearly put that sword straight through the chest. A 21-11 first set win extended into a 15-13 lead in the second.
These were the Americans who were supposed to revive USA beach volleyball? The ones getting handled by Hungary? (in all fairness, “those guys are really good,” Benesh said, whether or not you have heard of them).
“I was so nervous for that match,” Benesh said. “I literally could not pass a ball.”
Despite the passing struggles and the multiple lift calls and the jump-sets that tested the nerves of both referees and fans and coaches alike, they survived. Partain won a crucial joust on an overpass at 16-14 to keep the deficit at one. Two straight errors gave them a 17-16 lead and they’d close out the set and the match, 21-19, 15-8.
It’s funny to look back on that match, and the diverging paths of those teams since. Hajos and Streli have made just one main draw, at a Futures in Spain. They are the 79th ranked team in the world.
Benesh and Partain, meanwhile, have single-handedly revived USA beach volleyball.
They’ve won 29 matches and lost just 10. The three medals they have won — bronze in Ostrava, gold in Gstaad,…
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