Team USA’s Miles Partain and Andrew Benesh Advance To The Quarterfinals In Beach Volleyball

PARIS, France — Competing for glory underneath the Eiffel Tower ended in heartbreak for two American teams, while two first-time Olympians advanced to the next round.

Miles Partain and Andrew Benesh were the second American team of the day to play for a trip to the quarterfinals with a do-or-die match against Italy’s Samuele Cottafava, 25, and 35-year-old Paolo Nicolai. With the latter being a four-time Olympian who won silver at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 (with Daniele Lupo), it would not be an easy task.

With a huge crowd surrounding the center court in Eiffel Tower Stadium, the Italians were ultimately no match for the California beach volleyball tandem.

Other than an opening 1-1 tie, the U.S. men stayed ahead the entire first set, finishing ahead 21-17. The Italians were not about to give up easily, matching every American point to 11 before the imposing 6-foot-8 Benesh and 6-foot-3 Partain pulled away, taking the next five.

Despite a heavy Italian crowd, the U.S. persevered and finished the second set under the sweltering sun on top 21-18.

With Partain being the youngest U.S. beach volleyball player in Olympic history at 22 years old, the UCLA player hopes to play this game for years to come.

“It’s cool that beach volleyball is a lifelong sport that you can play at a really high level and I am glad to be a part of a sport that can do that and encourages that,” he said. 

Going against a veteran like Nicolai, Benesh admitted “It was a great match and a great team, and we were lucky to be able to come out on top. These are all world-class teams and volleyball can go either way sometimes, but we’re really happy with how we played.”

Two other U.S. teams were not as lucky.

The first U.S. men on the sand on Monday morning were Miles Evans and former NBA player Chase Budinger who played against Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum. The two American first-time Olympians were the last team to reach the knockout round and were going against the gold medal winners from Tokyo.

The first set was quick, with Evans and Budinger going point for point with the seasoned Olympians, tying multiple times until the Norwegians ultimately pulled away, ending the first set 21-16 after 18 minutes. The second set lasted a few minutes longer, but the result was the same: a 14-21 loss that knocked them out of the competition.

Despite the loss, Budinger credited the Norwegians, saying, “They will probably go down as one of the best teams to ever play together. They’ve been on top of the beach volleyball circuit for the last eight years. We knew coming into the game it was going to be a tough match. We knew we had to execute our system and play a consistent game, which obviously, they do a good job of not allowing to happen.”

The second U.S. women’s team to try to advance was the youngest duo of Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, first-time Olympians who were dominant in their pool play, only losing one set of their first three matches.

The youngest team at 26 and 27 years old, they were up against Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson.

As one of the shortest volleyball players on the circuit at 5-foot-6, Nuss had been on a great run with Kloth for the past season and a half but the two were unable to hold off the Canadian powerhouses, despite going up 14 to 9 they ultimately lost 19-21 after 23 minutes of play.

Youthful nerves set in for the Americans in the second set where they quickly found themselves in trouble and had to play catch-up until tying the set 18-18. But the wall that 5-foot-9 Wilkerson had built at the front of the net was making it difficult for the Americans who eventually lost the second set 21-18.

“We came here wanting to bring home gold back to the United States and that’s been our goal for the past four years,” Nuss said fighting back the tears. “It’s a phenomenal Canadian team. We play them a lot and they definitely outplayed us today.”

Nuss growing up in Louisiana and Kloth in South Dakota, the two LSU grads were hoping to rewrite the script on beach volleyball, showing that you can be any height and from anywhere and still play volleyball at an elite level.

“We wanted to go out and grow the sport and show that you don't have to do it on the coast, like California or Florida,” Nuss shared.

U.S. women have medaled at every Olympic Games since 2004 after the sport was added to the program in 1996. The remaining American women in contention are Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes who will face Switzerland tomorrow in the quarterfinals.

Lisa Costantini has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than a decade, including for the International Olympic Committee. She is a freelance writer who has contributed to TeamUSA.com since 2011.