Sandcast

10/10/2025

Rachel Heilbrun had no interest in playing her college ball outside the state of Texas. But when FSU reached out? She considered it -- and now she can't imagine being anywhere else:

TALLAHASSEE, Florida – Rachel Heilbrun had made up her mind: She wasn’t leaving the state of Texas. When she entered the transfer portal this summer, after two years starring on court one for Houston Christian, she had her eyes set on a single school: Texas. “It was a huge deal,” Heilbrun, a...

10/09/2025

How good is at hand digging? The fans at the Elite are still trying to figure it out 😂 she’s the Queen

10/08/2025

On this week's podcast, we're recapping all things World Championships as well as previewing the Beach Volleyball World Newport Elite, the main draw of which begins today after a massive day for the USA Volleyball women yesterday:

Welcome back to another Beach Access edition of SANDCAST, where Travis Mewhirter breaks down all things Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. This week, he's chatting World Championships, and the final standings are now out! - George and Saymon made their HUGE move at the end of the season - Katja Stam a...

10/08/2025

When it’s wedding szn and you have got to make it to ’s wedding on time 🤣🤣

10/08/2025

American woman, stay away from meee-eee -- but that's gonna be hard to do, as all four qualifying spots at the Beach Volleyball World Newport Elite went to USA Volleyball women

The women USA Volleyball made a statement during Tuesday's qualifier of the Newport Elite: They quite like playing at home, thank you very much. All four qualifying spots were won by American women in a tremendous showing. Corinne Quiggle and Chloe Loreen stayed hot. Just two days after winning thei...

10/07/2025

Given the way the entry point system is currently on the Beach Volleyball World Tour, many teams are left wrestling with this conundrum: To protect their entry points -- or just get out and play as much as they can.

Travis Mewhirter wonders on this week's episode of SANDCAST, where he recaps the World Championships race, if teams are protecting their entry points too muc...

10/06/2025

The race is over! The final standings for the World Championships, with wild cards and continental spots determined, are up!

Welcome to the Road to Adelaide, our series breaking down the race to qualifying for the 2025 Beach Volleyball World Championships, which will be held in Adelaide, Australia, November 14-23. Of the 48 teams who qualify for the World Championships, 25 are earned via points, the standings of which are...

10/06/2025

One month ago, George and Saymon were afterthoughts on the Beach Volleyball World Tour. Now, with gold medal in hand, they're the hottest team in the world, punching their ticket to the World Championships this fall with their first win as a team:

After all the strange losses and inconsistency, the six finishes outside of the top 10, the drop into Challenge qualifiers, George Wanderley and Saymon Barbosa proved they still have the most important ability in sports: They win when it matters. It has never mattered more these past three weeks. St...

10/04/2025

It doesn't get bigger than this: When Chaim Schalk and James Shaw play George and Saymon in tonight's Beach Volleyball World quarterfinals, it's a de facto play-in match to see who qualifies for the World Championships this November:

The Volleyball Gods are having fun at the Veracruz Challenge. Coming into this weekend, the final of the World Championship qualifying period, two teams -- Chaim Schalk and James Shaw of USA Volleyball, George and Saymon of Brazil -- were on the outside looking in. Both needed top-fives to push thei...

10/03/2025

Alexis Durish never knew if she was good enough to play professional beach volleyball, so she never considered trying it. Until this summer, when she came away with four medals in four tries -- a summer that changed everything:

TALLAHASSEE, Florida – Alexis Durish had little to no – emphasis on the no – interest in playing beach volleyball professionally after her four years at Florida State are up. Didn’t interest her. Didn’t want to do it. Didn’t seem worth it. “I don’t know,” she says, sitting in the F...

10/03/2025

Our fourth episode of Beyond the Sand takes you to Hamburg, Germany, where we document the huge breakout of Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth, ANOTHER medal from Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot, the continued rise of Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova -- and a whole lot more:

Welcome back to Beyond the Sand, our behind the scenes access to all things life on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. In this episode, we take you beyond the sand of the Hamburg Elite, bringing in an all-new cast of characters in Stefan Boermans, Tina Graudina, Anastasija Samoilova, Valentina Got...