WATCH LIVE: P1440/FIVB Las Vegas Open Beginning at Noon ET

FIVB/P1440 Las Vegas Open

• Las Vegas Festival Grounds; Las Vegas, Nevada
• Oct. 15-21, 2018
• Schedule/Results
• Watch Live: Men; Women
• Watch Live: Finals will air live at 4 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN2

Olympic ranking points for Tokyo 2020 are on the line as an international field of competitors convenes for the Las Vegas Open co-sponsored by p1440 and the FIVB this week.

A single country quota match between two Brazilian women’s pairs kicked off the action on Monday and qualifying action took place on Wednesday with eight men’s and eight women’s teams earning a spot in the 32-team main draw.

Event Facts

• The p1440/FIVB Las Vegas Open is taking place on the Las Vegas Festival Grounds in partnership with MGM Resorts
• More than 3,600 tons of sand were brought in to build custom beach volleyball courts
• The Las Vegas Open marks the first time the FIVB Beach World Tour has stopped in Sin City.
• The Las Vegas Open is the last four or five star event of 2018. Only the Oct. 23-28 event in Chetumal, Mexico, a three-star affair remains of the higher caliber FIVB events.
• Complimentary admission is being provided for the event, but VIP ticket options are on sale through Ticketmaster
• Daily yoga sessions and high-intensity interval workouts, live cooking demos, a beer and wine garden, and a kids court including bubble soccer, a rock wall and inflatable village highlight off the court offerings.
• Music
  • DJ Bird Peterson and DJ Wizdumb will play on both Friday and Saturday.
  • Classic rock band Phoenix will perform on Friday and O Wildly will perform on Saturday
  • Music will go from 3-7 p.m. PT each day

Las Vegas Open Facts and Figures

• Prize Money
  • The victors in each gender will receive $20,000.
  • Runnerup – $16,000
  • Third place – $10,000
  • Fourth place – $8,000
  • Fifth place – $6,000 (4 teams)
  • Ninth place – $4,000 (8 teams)
  • 17th Place – $3,000 (8 teams)
  • 25th Place – $2,000 (8 teams)
• Olympic Qualifying Points: As teams begin their quest toward qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, points are awarded for international events, including the Las Vegas Open.
  • Just 24 teams per gender will compete in Tokyo. One of the ways to earn a spot is to finish in the Top 15 of the FIVB world rankings as of June 15, 2020 with a minimum of 12 tournaments played between Sept. 1, 2018 and June 14, 2020.
  • Each country is limited to two teams per gender, however, so pole position is important within each nation in addition to the Top 15. Finishing in the top 15 does not guarantee entry.
• Live Streaming Video is available here as well as through the P1440 App.
• ESPN2 will broadcast the finals on Sunday beginning at 4 p.m. ET.
• Action Begins at 9 a.m. PT (noon ET) daily.

The Field

Women

• 32 team main draw – modified pool play followed by single elimination
  • Six American women’s pairs including No. 1 Summer Ross/Sara Hughes. Also #5 Emily Stockman/Kelley Larsen and #18 Brooke Sweat/Kerri Walsh Jennings, plus qualifiers Sarah Sponcil/Kelly Claes (#9), Betsi Flint/Emily Day and Brittany Howard/Nicole Branagh. This marks the debut for the newly announced pairing of Sweat/Walsh Jennings.
  • Five Brazilian pairs, including #4 Maria Antonelli/Carol Solberg Salgado and #8 Ana Patricia Silva Ramos/Rebecca Cavalcanti Barbosa Silva. Ana Patricia/Rebecca have earned medals at the last two FIVB events, winning gold at the Qinzhou Three Star and silver at the Yangzhou Four Star.
  • No. 2 Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson, who are sponsored by p1440, and #3 Sarah Pavan/Melissa Humana-Paredes of Canada round out the top five.
  • Teams from 15 countries are among the main draw field
• Who’s missing
  • The top ranked American duo of Alix Klineman/April Ross (#7 in the world) is not among the field after coming off a win at the Yangzhou Four Star in China on Sunday.
  • Top Brazilian squads Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda ‘Duda’ Santos Lisboa (#1) and Barbara Seixas de Freitas/Fernanda Alves (#3) also are taking the weekend off from FIVB play.
  • Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julie Sude (#8) and Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar/Taliqua Clancy (#9) also are missing from the FIVB World Top 10.

Men

• 32-team main draw – modified pool play followed by single elimination
  • Americans Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb are the top overall seed, followed by FIVB World Tour finals champions Christian Sorum/Anders Mol, Spain’s Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira, Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek/Michal Bryl and the Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen.
  • Seven American men’s pairs are in the main draw, including four qualifiers: Reid Priddy/Jeremy Casebeer, Sean Rosenthal/Chase Budinger, Miles Evans/Bill Kolinske and Trevor Crabb/Tri Bourne. Ryan Doherty/Billy Allen and Casey Patterson/Stafford Slick round out the group.
  • Three Brazilian pairs –  #10 Saymon Barbosa Santos/Gustavo ‘Guto’ Carvalhaes and #11 Pedro Solberg/Bruno Schmidt, and #16 Ricardo Costa Santos/Alvaro Filho – also highlight the field.
  • Teams from 20 countries make up the men’s field.
• Who’s missing
  • p1440 sponsored Latvians Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins and Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak are the lone teams missing out of the FIVB Top 10.
  • American pair Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, ranked 13th, and #11 Russians Konstantin Semenov/Ilya Leshukov also are not among the field. Semenov/Leshukov won the title at the FIVB Yangzhou Four Star in China on Sunday.