As 2017 winds down, VolleyMob is taking a look back at the past year in volleyball with a month by month recap of the year that was. July brought the women’s World Grand Prix, the culmination of the men’s World League and several AVP and FIVB beach titles en route to the Beach World Championships slated for the end of the month.
- The FIVB announced the draws for the Beach World Championships, which were set to be played July 28 to August 6.
- Canadians Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes celebrated Canada Day by winning their first FIVB World Tour title of the season, notching gold at the Porec Major Five Star event. On the men’s side, Brazilians Gustavo “Guto” Carvalhaes and Pedro Solberg became the second men’s team ever to win an FIVB event after beginning the weekend in the quota stage.
- Poland won its third FIVB U21 men’s title and first since 2003, sweeping Cuba in the finals in Brno, Czech Republic. Jakub Kochanowski earned MVP honors.
- Maksym Drozd led the Ukrainian men’s team to Euro League gold.
- The World Grand Prix women’s tournament was set to begin July 7 with a record-breaking 48 matches on the slate for opening week.
- Twenty-six teams from age 11 to 17 won titles at the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior National Championships in Minneapolis.
- Germans Chantal Laboureur and Julia Sude downed Brazil’s Larissa and Talita for the Gstaad Five Star Major title. Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena claimed gold on the men’s side, besting Polish duo Kantor/Losiak.
- The culmination of men’s World League play saw France defeat Brazil in five sets for the gold behind Earvin Ngapeth, who was named tournament MVP.
- Mima Mirkovic and Kathryn Plummer won the USA Volleyball Collegiate Beach Open to earn the right to represent the USA at the women’s U21 World Championships.
- The Ukrainian women won the CEV European League title in their appearance in the event. Ukraine defeated Finland for the top spot.
- The first transgender athlete in collegiate volleyball, Chloe Anderson, announced she was joining the UC Santa Cruz Division III team after playing two seasons at Santa Ana Community College.
- Betsi Flint/Kelley Larson notched the AVP San Francisco Open women’s title, while Ty Loomis and Maddison McKibbin were crowned champions over Allen/Slick on the men’s side.
- Italy won the inaugural U17 European Championship, defeating Belgium in the gold medal match. Turkey rounded out the podium.
- Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross faced off for the first time since dissolving their partnership, playing in the Long Beach President’s Cup.
- Phil Dalhauser and Nick Lucena won the Long Beach President’s Cup title over a Canadian duo, while Brazil’s Larissa and Talita bested Americans April Ross and Lauren Fendrick in the women’s championship.
- Eduarda ‘Duda’ Santos Lisboa and Ana Patricia Silva Ramos won their second straight U21 Beach World Championship. Fellow Brazilians Adrielson Dos Santos Silva and Renato Andrew Lima de Carvalho captured the title on the men’s side.
- The AVCA announced its 10 honorees for Club Coach of the Year.
- Lauren Carlini signed on to be the face of adidas volleyball. Carlini’s signing followed the announcement that adidas would be the official outfitter for USA Volleyball.
- Kerri Walsh Jennings injured her shoulder in the semifinal match at the Olsztyn Open, the week before Beach World Championships. She would later withdraw from the championships due to the injury.
- Germans Markus Bockermann and Lars Fluggen captured their first FIVB World Tour title of the year, winning the Olsztyn Four Star over Americans Ryan Doherty and John Hyden. Larissa and Talita won their second straight FIVB Tour title and fourth in 2017 in Olsztyn.
- China won the FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship, sweeping Russia in the championship match for its third title and first since 2013. Hanyu Yang took MVP honors.
- Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb won in Hermosa Beach over Trevor Crabb and Sean Rosenthal. Meanwhile, Emily Day and Brittany Hochevar cruised to the women’s title.
- Nicole Branagh & Emily Day win at Worlds in their first ever match together.
- The AVCA announced the four newest members of its Hall of Fame: Debbie Brown, John Cook, Cecile Renaude and Roseanna Wegrich.
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