Episodes
This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Troy Field. Long one of the most entertaining players on the AVP Tour, Field is a fan favorite for reasons that we could list for pages and pages and pages. We run the gamut with this one, as you can tell by the length of the podcast, chatting:
- Growing a brand in beach volleyball
- Why Troy still has Olympic aspirations
- His plans growing the Right Siiide with Taylor Crabb
- His thoughts on the AVP...
Published 10/09/24
This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne, Travis Mewhirter, and Savvy Simo, features, well, us – and you! We answered all – or as many as we could – of your questions about the AVP League in this one, including:
How did the tiebreaker between Savvy and Abby Van Winkle and Hailey Harward and Kylie DeBerg go down?
What do we honestly think of the AVP League?
How did the AVP decide on sets to 15-15-15?
Would we prefer the new League format or a season with 10 traditional...
Published 10/02/24
This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Geena Urango, one of the OGs on the podcast and a member of the San Diego Smash of the inaugural AVP League. Geena has been one of the most successful defenders of this generation amongst those who play exclusively domestically, a decision we chat about at length on the podcast, as well as:
How, at age 35, she continues her steady rise of improvement
Her thoughts on the AVP League and what she thought of...
Published 09/25/24
Welcome to Beach Access, where Travis Mewhirter and sometimes Kyle Friend and sometimes Tri Bourne break down all things domestic beach volleyball. Today, Travis is breaking down week 2 of the AVP League in Miami, discussing:
Why Trevor Crabb, he of the Miami Mayhem, thinks there might be a home field advantage
Why each team’s No. 2 pairing will be critical to success in the AVP League
How April Ross and Alix Klineman made the most of their wild card into the League
And that’s about it. Not...
Published 09/23/24
Welcome back to Beach Access, where Travis Mewhirter and occasionally Kyle Friend break down professional beach volleyball on both the AVP Tour and the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. This week, Travis, fresh off a week in Tallahassee at Florida State, takes a look at the AVP League and its week one debut, talking:
How were the teams assigned, and how in the world is Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander on the same team as Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes? (the New York Nitro)
What’s the prize money...
Published 09/19/24
This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Marcio Sicoli, the longtime head coach of the Pepperdine beach volleyball team and the man Melissa Humana-Paredes calls “the wizard” leading her and Brandie Wilkerson to an Olympic silver medal at the Paris Olympic Games. On this episode, we chat about:
Why Wilkerson wanted Sicoli to coach her and Mel through the Paris quad
With Olympic medals with three different countries – Brazil, USA, Canada – is...
Published 09/18/24
This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner, the recent AVP Manhattan Beach Open champions who followed up their epic win with an epic interview with an epic and open and candid podcast. Brunner holds back nothing in this one, as he and Crabb chat about:
What it was like for Theo Brunner, a man of so many “almosts” in his career, to finally get on the Manhattan Beach Pier
Why Brunner hates the current system of the...
Published 09/11/24
The Hermosa Open was AWESOME, one of the purest beach volleyball tournaments we've been to in a long time. All good vibes from the players and fans, streamed on VBTV, fun new teams to watch -- all of it. And, we had some scintillating play, INCLUDING:
- A DOUBLE-FINAL on the women's side between Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes and Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft
- Finally a domestic win for Chase Budinger and Miles Evans, long-awaited, in a fun final against Miles Partain and Alex Ranghieri
- April...
Published 09/09/24
Welcome back to Beach Access, where Travis Mewhirter and his producers, including a celebrity appearance from Producer Mom, preview this week's Hermosa Beach Open, presented by Wedbush Securities. We chat about:
- How Travis wound up pulling Andy Benesh
- Why Miles Partain is playing with Alex Ranghieri
- Where are Trevor Crabb, Taylor Crabb, and Taylor Sander
- Heather Bansley making her USA debut!
- AVP League questions And, per usual, a whole lot more!
SHOOTS!
***
Get 20 PERCENT off all...
Published 09/05/24
This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Florida State Beach Volleyball’s entire (and new) coaching staff. Longtime head coach Brooke Niles, her top assistant and husband, Nick Lucena, and the new addition to the crew, Travis Mewhirter, chat all things beach volleyball, including:
What it’s like being a husband-wife, coach-assistant-coach
How long it took Niles and Lucena to dive full-time into coaching and not miss playing (hint: maybe the...
Published 09/04/24
Welcome back to Beach Access, where Kyle Friend and Travis Mewhirter break down all things beach volleyball, in this case AVP Chicago, where things got positively wild.
Taylor Crabb in shoes? YUP!
Chase Budinger shoving Trevor Crabb? Oh, yes.
AVP League drama? Got it all.
Miles Partain and Andy Benesh dominating alongside Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson? Check and check. Fun one!
SHOOTS!
***
Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST63....
Published 09/02/24
Welcome back to Beach Access, where Kyle Friend and Travis Mewhirter break down, preview, recap, analyze, and chat all things beach volleyball. After a week in Germany for the Hamburg Elite16, the boys are back stateside and heading to AVP Chicago, the final stop on the AVP calendar, where there are huge AVP League implications. We chat about:
- What every team needs to do to qualify for the AVP League
- Why we believe April Ross and Alix Klineman will get a wild card, making it an even...
Published 08/29/24
This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Ryan Wilcox, the next talent coming out of Hawaii in a long, long list of them. Bourne sent some shockwaves through the beach volleyball world when he dropped Chaim Schalk and picked up Wilcox, leaving some wondering: Who in the world is Ryan Wilcox? We cover that and then some during this episode in which we chat about:
Wilcox’s upbringing in Hawaii, surrounded by McKibbins and Crabbs and all of the...
Published 08/28/24
This is our first-ever LIVE and in-person fan question episode, a feature of our SANDCAST Tour stops, this one being in Missoula, Montana. Because who doesn't put beach volleyball and Montana together? We answer questions about:
- Why did Tri Bourne switch partners, dropping Chaim Schalk for Ryan Wilcox? And for that matter...who is Ryan Wilcox?
- What advice does Travis Mewhirter have for someone who didn't grow up in a beach volleyball state to get better at beach volleyball?
- Travis'...
Published 08/21/24
Welcome back to Beach Access, where Kyle Friend and Travis Mewhirter break down all things AVP Manhattan Beach Open 2024. On this episode, the boys are chatting about:
The redemption of Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner, who didn’t make the Olympic Games, but just won the biggest tournament on the AVP calendar
The Hawaiian dominance in Manhattan Beach, where either Tri Bourne, Trevor Crabb, or Taylor Crabb have won the last five, and been in every final since 2015
Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth,...
Published 08/19/24
Welcome back to Beach Access, where Travis Mewhirter and Kyle Friend break down, preview, and chat about all things AVP Beach Volleyball and the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. Today, we're previewing the Manhattan Beach Open, which begins with Thursday's qualifier and ends on Sunday with someone getting their name on the Pier. The big question: Who?
We chat about that and a whole lot more, including:
How will Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, and Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, rebound from a...
Published 08/15/24
This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Deahna Kraft, one of the top up-and-coming prospects in USA Volleyball and on the AVP Tour. A 25-year-old from Seattle, Kraft went from walk-on to court one at Pepperdine, and is now winning gold medals on the Beach Pro Tour, as she did in Belgium with Lexy Denaburg. On this episode, we chat about:
Kraft switching from blocker to defender, and embracing the suck that inevitably comes with such a big...
Published 08/14/24
This is the FINAL Paris Pod/Road to Paris/The Road is Here. The Road is done. The Olympic Games are over. And goodness gracious gosh almighty was it one hell of an Olympic Games. We brought out all the stops for this one, bringing in Travis Mewhirter, Kyle Friend and Tri Bourne to break down an unforgettable Olympic Games, in which we chat about:
Ana Patricia and Duda putting Brazil back on top of the world with the first Brazilian women’s gold medal since 1996 – before AP and Duda were...
Published 08/10/24
Welcome back to the Paris Pod! Travis Mewhirter breaks down all of the action from the Paris Olympic Games, in this case the quarterfinals in beach volleyball with a look-ahead to the semifinals to come on Thursday. He chats about:
USA making the wrong kind of history, missing the podium for the first time in history
Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson making the right kind of history, making the semifinals for the first time in Canadian history
Everyone making history, with...
Published 08/08/24
This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features Bert Kreischer. Wait…Bert Kreischer? On a beach volleyball podcast?
YUP!
Kreischer, one of the highest-grossing comedians of all-time, wanted to get into beach volleyball during the Paris Olympic Games, so he had the SANDCAST crew at his studio to simulcast Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes as they played the Czech Republic’s Bara Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova, then again as Cheng and Hughes played Nina...
Published 08/07/24
Welcome back to the Paris Pod! Travis Mewhirter and indoor expert Matt Prosser break down the Olympic volleyball action from the Paris Olympic Games, recapping pool play and previewing the playoff rounds to come. On this episode, we chat about:
Why it’s redemption time for the USA menCan anyone – anyone? – stop the Italian men?
The USA women’s likelihood of making the medal rounds
And, also, the Italian women rolling and favored to win a medal
And much more!
Thanks as always to Matt Prosser...
Published 08/06/24
Welcome back to the Paris Pod! Travis Mewhirter breaks down the ninth-place rounds of the Olympic beach volleyball in Paris, looking at:
Spain Day! Huge day for Tania Moreno and Daniela Alvarez, and Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira as both are now in the quarterfinals
Hartbreak for Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth – and jubilation for Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson in a huge battle early
Andy Benesh and Miles Partain doubling (and tripling, and quadrupling) down on jump-sets and...
Published 08/05/24
Welcome back to the Paris Pod, where Travis Mewhirter and occasionally a guest break down the Olympic volleyball action. Today we're in the Bayview Studios with producers 1 and 2, previewing the Olympic beach volleyball playoffs, where all four USA teams -- Chase Budinger and Miles Evans, Miles Partain and Andy Benesh, Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth -- have made the playoffs, and a shout-out to the indoor teams for making it to the quarterfinals as well! On this...
Published 08/03/24
Welcome back to the Paris Pod, where Travis Mewhirter and now Kyle Friend break down and analyze the Paris Olympic Beach Volleyball. It has been a wild few days, with the standout storylines in women’s Olympic beach volleyball being:
Zoe Verge-Depre and Esmee Bobner upsetting their way to the round of 16
The USA women, backed by an undefeated run from Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth and a 2-0 start from Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, are off to a strong start
The Brazilian women, too, are...
Published 08/02/24