PARIS, France, august 1, 2024.- Miles Partain and Andy Benesh reach the Round of 16 with a three-set win over Brazil to finish second in Pool D, Cubans Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz earned the pool top spot with a perfect record beating Morocco on Thursday.
The youngest U.S. men’s beach team in Olympic history, Miles Partain and Andy Benesh, advanced at the Paris Olympics with a 2-1 (21-17, 14-21, 15-8) win over George Wanderley and Andre Loyola of Brazil in gusty conditions.
The U.S. finished second in Pool D with a 2-1 record. George/Andre placed third with a 1-2 mark. The Round of 16 takes place on Sunday, August 4.
“They are one of the best teams in the world,” Benesh said. “I knew we needed to bring our game today the way we want to play. We were super aggressive, I thought Miles played great, and then our mentality was really solid going in and we held it throughout the match. We are super proud of how we came into that match, and we were able to persist with that win today.”
Both players scored 18 points with Partain, the youngest U.S. men’s Olympic beach player at age 22, totaling 15 kills, a block and a pair of aces that came in the deciding set. Benesh finished with 11 kills, four blocks (three in the final set) and three aces. Brazil committed 17 errors, while the U.S. made half of its 14 errors in the second set.
“We are going to recover and then just trying to stay as positive as possible for the rest of the tournament,” Partain said. “Train as hard as we can. Keep doing scouting, watching film and playing to our strengths and enjoying it.”
Earlier, Cubans Jorge Diaz and Noslen Alayo finished first place in the pool with a perfect 3-0 mark and without losing a set after beating Morocco’s Abicha/Elgraoui 2-0 (21-14, 21-11).
Noslen Diaz was the leading scorer in the match with 20 points on 15 kills and five blocks. Jorge Alayo added 15points all on kills. Cuba committed 11 errors against 7 from Morocco.
Olympic Games Paris 2024 Beach Volleyball: schedule and results
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