World’s best open play at Elite 16 beach volleyball event at Newport Beach

The opening day at the Elite 16 beach volleyball tournament on Wednesday began with an emotional brotherly reunion, and concluded with a just-as-thrilling three-set match between U.S. Olympic hopefuls, including the newest phenom on the women’s side.

Playing in their first top-tier international tournament in nine years, Trevor and Taylor Crabb rallied to beat Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots of Latvia in three sets in an early pool-play match alongside the pier.

The Crabbs will return to the court on Thursday at 8 a.m. to take on the Brazilian pair of Evandro Oliveira and Arthur Lanci. The north Redondo Beach residents will wrap up the pool-play round against Adrian Gavira and Alejandro Huerta of Spain at 1 p.m.

Former USC beach volleyball stars Megan Kraft and Terese Cannon finished 2-0 on the day after beating 2024 U.S. Olympian Sara Hughes and her new partner, 6-foot-5 Ally Batenhorst, both of whom also played at USC during different time periods.

Kraft and Cannon came into the tournament ranked second in the world and have solidified themselves as contenders for a spot on the 2028 Olympic team.

Hughes, 30, had not played since the 2024 Paris Olympics because she tore her Achilles last winter and underwent surgery in January. Battenhorst, 23, was playing in her second professional beach volleyball tournament after making her debut at the Hermosa Beach Open last month.

Two other women’s teams won both their matches on Wednesday, including Hughes’ former partner, Fullerton native Kelly Cheng, who formed a team with Molly Shaw while Hughes was injured.

Hughes, a Costa Mesa native who attended Mater Dei High, recruited Batenhorst to the sand while recuperating from her Achilles injury. Batenhorst was playing for the Omaha Supernovas professional indoor team after playing her final collegiate season at USC in 2024.

Hughes and Battenhorst began the day by dropping a three-set match to the Brazilian tandem of Carol Solberg and Rebecca Cavalcanti, who came into the tournament ranked No. 3 in the world.

Hughes and Battenhorst also won the first set against Kraft and Cannon, and held a 13-12 lead in the third set, but ultimately lost 16-14.

The Crabbs looked a bit shaky at first, falling behind 4-0 in their first set before losing 21-16, but found their rhythm as the match unfolded.

They regrouped to win the second set, 21-19, and then jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set before the Latvians rallied to take the lead. The Crabbs still trailed 13-11 in the final set, but managed to score the final four points to win 15-13.

The 2024 U.S. Olympic team of Chase Budinger and Miles Evans knocked off the Norwegian pair of Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen in three sets in their first pool-play match, but were swept in their second match against Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar.

Younousse and Tijan won bronze at the 2020 Olympics and are tied for fourth in the world rankings, the highest-ranked men’s team in Newport Beach this week.

Miles Partain and Andy Benesh, the other 2024 U.S. Olympic pair, swept 13th-seeded Marco and Esteban Grimalt of Chile in their only match of the day.

Like the Crabb brothers, Partain and Benesh have two pool-play matches on Thursday, including a 2 p.m. showdown against Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler of Germany, who won silver at the 2024 Olympics.

The winners in each of the four four-team pools advance to Friday’s quarterfinals, while the second and third-place finishers will play in the Round of 12 on Friday.