2017 FIVB World Tour – Qinzhou
- October 11-15
- Qinzhou, China
The FIVB World Tour is continuing this week with a three-star competition in Qinzhou, China. The competition will begin on October 11 with the qualification tournament and run through October 15. At the event, there will be six American squads vying for a spot with three already in the main draw and three more fighting for a spot in the qualification round.
Of the American duos that will compete two top pairings will be competing with new partners including April Ross teaming up with Kelly Claes and Lauren Fendrick partnering with Nicole Branagh.
Following Ross’ split from former partner Kerri Walsh Jennings, she partnered up with Fendrick, who was her partner throughout the summer. Up until the 2017 FIVB World Tour Finals where they were eliminated early on. Claes has partnered with Sara Hughes throughout her collegiate and rookie season on the tour but are not forming up for this tournament.
Walsh Jennings is still sitting out after a shoulder injury so her partner over the summer, Branagh will team up with Fendrick for the Chinese tournament.
Other American crews to compete are Brooke Sweat/Summer Ross, Emily Day/Brittany Hochevar, Mark Burik/Bill Kolinske and Eric Zaun/Stafford Slick. Zaun is making his international debut with Slick and will add to the depth of the U.S. men’s beach volleyball field.
This is the year that many partners will switch up their partnerships to see what will work with certain skill sets, all in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. The qualifying season for the 2020 Olympics will begin in 2019 when most teams will need to have a solid foundation going forward.
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