Xiamen, China, April 20, 2017 – USA’s Caitlin Ledoux and Kendra Vanzwieten earn a convincing win in their first international tournament together to claim their spot in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Xiamen Open main draw.
Ledoux/Vanzwieten joined forces at the beginning of 2017 and met Austria’s Cornelia Rimser/Lena Plesiutschnig in their opening match. The US team got off to a strong start in Xiamen defeating the Austrians 2–0 (21–13, 21–17).
“We’re really excited, this is our first international event together so it’s nice to start it with a win and qualify,” said Ledoux.“In the
first game they missed a few opportunities so we could put the pressure on them and then in the second game they picked it up a lot, they were super consistent and they played really well,” said Vanzwieten.
“Preparations for the season have been a little complicated, she lives in California, I live in Florida, so I fly out to California a lot to train,” said Vanzwieten.
“A long distance relationship, but it’s been good and we’re really excited about playing internationally this season together,” Ledoux.
Both Ledoux and Vanzwieten have played in Xiamen in previous years and hope to the tournament will bring them luck in 2017.
“This is my third time, I actually got a bronze medal here in 2014 so I feel good luck when I come here, so I like this tournament, it’s great,” said Vanzwieten.
Spain’s Fernandez Navarro/Lobato also joined up for the first time in January this year and beat Romania’s Matei/Vaida 2–1 (18-21, 21–17, 15-8) to enter the main draw.
https://twitter.com/FIVBBeach/status/854925366326050818Ittlinger/Mersmann from Germany progress into the main draw after defeating Scottish team Beattie/Coutts 2-0 (21-16, 21-14).
Eight teams progress into the Xiamen Open main draw; USA’s Ledoux/Vanzwieten, Maria Antonelli/Carol Horta from Brazil, Turkey’s Cetin/Nezir, Lunde/Ulveseth from Norway, Australian pair Artacho Del Solar/Kendall, Lusson/Jupiter from France, Fernandez Navarro/Lobato from Spain and Germany’s Ittlinger/Mersmann.
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