Huntington Beach Sand Bits – Women’s Semifinal Notes

  • All eight women’s players in the semifinals have played in at least one championship match before, but Angela Bensend, Geena Urango and Lane Carico will all be looking for their first AVP title
  • Out of the last 12 AVP Huntington Beach Opens, 10 times the finals featured either April Ross or Kerri Walsh Jennings

April Ross / Kerri Walsh Jennings (#1)

  • This marks the duo’s 11th domestic event together and 35th tournament together overall
  • They have won 9 AVP events (Santa Barbara in 2013, all 7 2014 events, and the 2015 season opener in New Orleans) as well as 8 FIVB events
  • The only domestic event this duo has not won together came in Huntington Beach in October 2013 as they lost in the semifinals to Lauren Fendrick / Brittany Hochevar 21-15, 21-17
  • In all tournaments, they have won 17 of the 34 completed events thus far (50%)
  • Ross and Walsh Jennings have a 52-1 match record on the AVP, 47 of their wins coming in sweeps
  • In their first three matches in Huntington Beach Ross and Walsh Jennings have outscored their opponents 126-57 (average set score of 21-9.5)
  • Ross won her first event in 2007 (on FIVB Tour) after beginning her career in 2006… she now has extended her streak to 10 straight years winning at least one title
  • Ross has won 11 of the last 12 AVP tournaments she has played in, doing so with three different partners.
  • Walsh Jennings has won 74 AVP titles and 127 overall
  • 63 of the AVP wins came alongside May-Treanor, 9 with Ross, 1 with Whitney Pavlik with 1 in an individual event
  • Walsh Jennings has had great success in Huntington Beach… this marks her 10th AVP event here and she has advanced to the semifinals each time and won six times… a win on Sunday would tie Huntington Beach with her seven titles in Manhattan Beach, the most of any domestic location for Walsh Jennings.

Kim DiCello / Kendra VanZwieten (#2)

  • This marks the duo’s 7th AVP event together (and 15th overall)
  • DiCello / VanZwieten advanced to the semifinals in 6 of their 7 AVP tournaments, and have a 2-3 match record in semis
  • Entering the semifinal match the duo has a 26-11 match record on the AVP Tour…. 8 of the 11 losses have come to teams seeded 5th or better (and lowest seeded team to defeat them was 7th)
  • On the AVP Tour the duo is 8-5 in three-set matches
  • The semifinal match will be the 11th match of the year for DiCello / VanZwieten, with six of them coming against teams seeded sixth or better
  • DiCello’s first ever main draw match win came in the 2009 Manhattan Beach Open against VanZwieten (and Raquel Beson)
  • DiCello has now advanced to the semifinals of an AVP tournament for the 10th time in her last 11 outings
  • VanZwieten’s best AVP finish coming into the 2015 season was a 7th (out of 29 events), but all 8 of her events since the start of 2015 have exceeded that… she has a 5th, four 3rds, one 2nd, and a 1st plus her Huntington finish
  • In New Orleans 2016 VanZwieten tied Barbra Fontana as the shortest player to win on the AVP Tour at 5’6”… Fontana won 2 AVP titles (one with Elaine Youngs and one with an individual format).

Angela Bensend / Geena Urango (#5)

  • This marks the duo’s 13th AVP event together and 15th tournament together overall
  • Bensend / Urango have been in the AVP title match twice in the last three tournaments entering Huntington Beach
  • They are 29-23 on the AVP Tour all-time in AVP main draws including 5-7 in three-set matches
  • Bensend / Urango have never lost an AVP match after winning the first set (31-0 including qualifiers)
  • The only two losses the duo has this season have both come to teams seeded number one
  • Bensend is playing in just her 17th AVP event ever, and all but 4 have come with Urango (the other 4 have been played with three different partners)
  • Prior to the 2015 season Bensend’s best AVP finish was a 7th (in her first event with Urango), but since then she already has 6 finishes with a 7th or better including this tournament
  • Urango is playing in her 19th AVP tournament, and her other 6 events came with 6 different partners
  • Urango’s first ever pro beach tournament outside of California came in Cincinnati in 2012 with Caitlin Ledoux (finished 17th)
  • In her previous three tournaments in Huntington Beach, Urango had a 3-5 record in main draw matches… this year she has a 3-1 match record here

Lane Carico / Summer Ross (#6)

  • This is the 4thAVP tournament together for these two players (18th overall), and they have now advanced to the semifinals all four times.
  • The duo has a 15-5 match record in AVP main draws, including 4-3 in three-set matches.
  • Both players have similar collegiate backgrounds, having played indoor at one University and then transferring to another to play beach volleyball.
  • Carico had an AVP best of fifth place prior to the start of the 2014 season, but from that point on, she has reached the semifinals in 10 of her 11 events with three different partners (beginning with Hochevar).
  • Carico is 1-8 in AVP semifinal matches (including a forfeit loss) but six of those matches came against a team seeded either first or second.
  • This marks Ross’ 13th AVP semifinal, with the first nine coming with Emily Day (1 first, 3 seconds, 5 thirds)… she has a 5-7 record in AVP semifinal matches.
  • Since the start of the 2013 season, Ross has played in 16 AVP tournaments (including Huntington Beach), and this marks her 13th semifinal appearance in that time.
  • Ross’ only AVP victory came in a while playing in an AVP event for the first time as a partnership (Cincinnati in Sept. 2013 with Emily Day).