Brothers Trevor and Taylor Crabb, playing together in an international event for the first time since 2016, made a strong start to their campaign at this week`s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Newport Beach Elite in 2025. Their reunion saw them secure a victory in their initial Pool C match, positioning them well for advancement to the elimination rounds.
Trevor (36) and Taylor (33) began their international careers as a duo, participating in five FIVB World Tour events between 2015 and 2016. After nearly a decade of competing with different partners, they re-teamed for this event, having received a wildcard entry.
Seizing this opportunity, the Crabb brothers defeated the 2024 European champions Martins Plavins and Kristians Fokerots of Latvia in a thrilling tie-breaker (16-21, 21-19, 15-13) during their first Pool C encounter.
Looking ahead, the American pair will conclude their pool play in Newport Beach on Thursday, facing Brazil’s Evandro Gonçalves/Arthur Lanci and Spain’s Adrián Gavira/Alejandro Huerta. The Brazilian team had previously overcome the Spanish duo in straight sets (21-14, 21-13).
All Four American Teams Secure Victories
All four American teams competing in the main draw recorded victories on Wednesday, highlighting a successful start for the host nation. Paris Olympians Andy Benesh and Miles Partain were the only American team to remain undefeated, sweeping past Chilean cousins Marco and Esteban Grimalt (24-22, 21-18) in Pool D. In another Pool D match, German Olympic medalists Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler also won in two sets (21-14, 21-16) against Brazilians George Wanderley and Saymon Barbosa.
Fellow Paris Olympians Chase Budinger and Miles Evans experienced mixed fortunes on Wednesday. They secured a tie-breaker win against Norwegians Hendrik Mol and Mathias Berntsen (21-19, 19-21, 15-11) in their Pool A opener, but later fell to Qatari Olympic medalists Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan in two sets (21-18, 21-13). The Qatari pair had earlier defeated Australians Thomas Hodges and Paul Burnett in straight sets (21-12, 21-15), securing their spot in the elimination rounds. Mol and Berntsen recovered from their initial loss to beat the Australians 2-0 (21-19, 21-18).
In Pool B, Chaim Schalk and James Shaw mirrored their compatriots` pattern, first defeating Australian Olympians Izac Carracher and Mark Nicolaidis in three sets (21-17, 17-21, 15-11), then losing to Sweden`s Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson in two sets (21-17, 21-13) a few hours later. The Swedish team had started their Newport Beach campaign with a decisive two-set victory (21-11, 21-12) over the English Bello twins, Javier and Joaquin, thereby qualifying for the next round. The fourth match in this pool saw Carracher and Nicolaidis narrowly defeat the Bellos in a tie-breaker (21-18, 21-23, 22-20).
Pool play concludes on Thursday with the remaining 12 matches. Winners of each pool will advance directly to the quarterfinals, while teams finishing second and third will compete in the Round of 12 – both stages are scheduled for Friday. The semifinals and medal matches will take place on Saturday.
Oliver Wrenwick