competition/Beach Pro Tour

Americans dominate home Futures in Pompano Beach

Five of six medals go to US pairs, one – to Norway

Published 11:29, 09 Dec 2024

USA’s Timothy Brewster in attack at Pompano Beach (source: USA Volleyball)

American duos collected five of the six medals at the Pompano Beach Futures on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. The men’s bronze went to Norway. Kimberly Hildreth & Xolani Hodel, Madison Shields & Avery Poppinga and Devon Newberry & Jaden Whitmarsh, in that order, lined up on the women’s podium. Timothy Brewster & Logan Webber won the all-American men’s final against Caleb Kwekel & Gage Basey, while Norway’s Nils Gunnar Ringoen & Even Stray Aas finished in third place.

Your medalists from 2024 BPT Futures Pompano Beach! Women: Kim Hildreth and Xolani Hodel defeat Avery Poppinga and...
Posted by USA Volleyball on Sunday, December 8, 2024

The reunited Kimberly Hildreth & Xolani Hodel crowned their pair’s Beach Pro Tour debut with the first Tour gold for either of the two players. They cruised through the Pompano Beach Futures tournament on a streak of five consecutive wins, dropping only a set along the way. In the semifinals, the top-seeded Americans delivered a 2-0 (21-13, 21-10) win over fifth-seeded Ines Piret & Youna Coens of Belgium, and in the final, they celebrated a 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) victory over third-seeded compatriots Madison Shields & Avery Poppinga.

Shields & Poppinga also reached the gold medal showdown undefeated in four consecutive matches. In their semifinal, they achieved a 2-1 (25-27, 21-14, 15-12) turnaround against fellow Americans Devon Newberry & Jaden Whitmarsh to secure their first-ever Beach Pro Tour medal.

Upon the Beach Pro Tour debut for either of them, Newberry & Whitmarsh entered the tournament as the lowest seeded team in the qualification bracket. Two straight-set wins later, they made it to the main draw, where they were seeded 15^th. Another three straight-set wins later, they were up against Shields & Poppinga in the semis. After suffering their only loss in Pompano Beach, Newberry & Whitmarsh bounced back with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-6) sweep of the bronze medal match against Piret & Coens.

The 2024 Pompano Beach Futures women’s podium (source: USA Volleyball)

Men’s winners Timothy Brewster & Logan Webber suffered no set damages in Pompano Beach and crowned their pair’s third Beach Pro Tour appearance with gold after five straight-set victories. It was Brewster’s first and Webber’s fourth Tour podium. Seeded on top of the men’s main draw bracket, they mastered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-17) semifinal win over ninth-seeded fellow Americans Alex Ukkelberg & Kevin Coyle, who emerged from the qualification grind. Another pair of American qualifiers, 15^th-seeded Caleb Kwekel & Gage Basey, came up as their last obstacle on the way to the trophy. Brewster & Webber overcame it with a 2-0 (24-22, 21-16) victory to top the podium.

Kwekel & Basey reached the final undefeated in six consecutive matches. The only set they lost along the way was in their 2-1 (21-17, 17-21, 15-12) semifinal win over seventh-seeded Norwegians Nils Gunnar Ringoen & Even Stray Aas. Thus, Basey decorated his Beach Pro Tour debut with silver, while Kwekel picked up his second medal, after the Halifax Futures bronze in August.

Ringoen & Aas prevented a complete American sweep of the medals with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-17) win over Ukkelberg & Coyle for the third place. This way, Ringoen made it to his first Beach Pro Tour podium, while the youngest of all Pompano Beach medallists, 19-year-old Aas, added the second medal to his Tour collection, also featuring a bronze from the previous Futures event in Balikesir.