PARIS, France, August 5, 2024.- The American pair of Miles Partain & Andrew Benesh secured a spot in the last eight of the Paris 2024 men’s beach volleyball tournament, after shutting out Italy’s Samuele Cottafava & Paolo Nicolai on Monday.
In the seventh men’s eighthfinal, ninth-seeded Partain & Benesh mastered a convincing 2-0 (21-17, 21-18) shutout of 12th-seeded Cottafava & Nicolai to advance to eighthfinals at their rookie Olympic appearance.
“We are just trying to be aggressive and be the best we are capable of, win or lose. Our vision is farther than any one game, even here at the Olympics,” Partain said of the “on two” offense. “Playing before thousands of fans is awesome and something I will remember for the rest of my life.”
Benesh’s blocking made the biggest difference in the match, most of which proceeded under the control of the Americans. Benesh himself produced five stuffs, against none from the Italians, and added two aces to his tally to share the top scorer honours of the match with Nicolai on 15 points each.
“We are going to live and die by the sword (on two offense). We may crash and burn but we are OK with that. We are going to keep doing it no matter what,” Benesh stated. “When you play the best teams in the world, it’s going to be a dog fight every time and we were lucky to come out on top today.”
In the quarterfinals, Partain & Benesh will meet Qatar’s Cherif Younousse & Ahmed Tijan.
Olympic Games Paris 2024 Beach Volleyball: schedule and results
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