Ep. 6: Three-Peat Complete

Tori: Happy Friday, October ninth, and welcome back to Sideout AI, your weekly rundown of everything happening on the sand. Broadcasting from Saint Petersburg, Florida, I'm Tori.

Cooper: And I'm Cooper. Today's show is presented by Meta Muse. When you need real-time answers on anything in your life, flights, money, your inbox, your calendar, Meta Muse handles it right in chat. Thanks to Meta Muse for keeping this show rolling.

Tori: Here are your headlines. Qatar completes the three-peat at the Asian Games, coming back from a set down to take a third straight gold. Japan stuns Thailand to grab the bronze at home. And at East Beach, the eight seed storms the Santa Barbara Open and takes home ten thousand dollars and a bike.

Cooper: Plus, the Mother Lode champs double down on the men's side, the Beach Pro Tour heads to Turkey, and the last big-money weekend of the fall is still on the table. Let's get into it.

Tori: Segment one, the US Tour, and we're starting in Santa Barbara. The Santa Barbara Open ran October second through fourth at East Beach. Sixty thousand dollars total, thirty thousand per gender, presented by Jones Trading and hosted by eight oh five Beach. Thirty-two-team main draws, modified pool play into single elimination. The winners took home ten thousand dollars each and a Rad Power Bike.

Cooper: Women's final, Sunday afternoon on Court four. The eight seed, EL-uh KAHN-er and JEH-sih-kuh smith, beat the two seed, uh-LEK-sis DOO-rish and AW-dree KAY-nig, sixteen twenty-one, twenty-one seventeen, fifteen thirteen. Down a set, down early in the second, and they run it all the way back. Third place went to the twenty-two seed, zoo-ZAH-nuh KOOD-lik and KAY-lee TROO-sloh, and the five seed, ASH-lee PAY-ter and SAIR-uh wood.

Tori: And KAHN-er and smith didn't sneak into that final. In the quarters they took out the top seed, AM-ber and law-REN STIH-vrinz, two sets to one, a seven seed gap. That's the biggest upset of the women's draw, and they topped it twice over. The final was an eight over a two, a six seed gap. They beat the one and the two to lift the trophy.

Cooper: The rest of the women's bracket was chaos too. In the round of sixteen, the fourteen seed, MAY-see LOOD-vig and ee-NEHZ pih-RET, knocked out the three seed, muh-REEN KIH-nuh and KLOH-ee loh-REEN, two sets to one, an eleven seed gap. Remember, loh-REEN took out the one seed at Laguna two weeks ago. The magic didn't travel north.

Tori: Same round, the twenty-two seed, KOOD-lik and TROO-sloh, beat the six seed, fayth BART-lit and KAH-thuh-rin KLEH-vin-jer, two to one, a sixteen seed gap. And the twenty-three seed, mah-LEE-uh geh-men-TEH-ruh and TAY-ler HAH-guh-nah, swept the seven seed, beh-LEN kahs-TEE-yoh and MAH-dih-son shields, two oh, also a sixteen seed gap. Five upsets of six-plus seeds in one bracket. That's a tournament-maker of a weekend.

Cooper: Men's side. The one seed held, and they held hard. gayj BAY-see and TOH-mus hurst beat the six seed, AY-vuh-ree drohst and ford HAR-man, twenty-one sixteen, twenty-one sixteen, in Sunday's final. That's the Mother Lode champs adding a second trophy in a month. Third went to the two seed, wil RAHT-man and RY-in WIL-kahks, and the twenty seed, uh-LEKS rahn-GYEH-ree and jak WAHL-mer.

Tori: But the road to that final had fireworks. In the semis, the six seed, drohst and HAR-man, beat the two seed, RAHT-man and WIL-kahks, two sets to one, a four seed gap. In the quarters, rahn-GYEH-ree and WAHL-mer, the twenty seed, swept the five seed, lahrs BAY-see and lehv pree-MAH, two oh, a fifteen seed gap. Same round, drohst and HAR-man took out the three seed, shawn kuk and HEN-drik MOHL, two to one, a three seed gap.

Cooper: And the deepest cut of the weekend came in round two. The twenty seed, rahn-GYEH-ree and WAHL-mer, swept the four seed, RAH-dee LEH-nin and LOH-gan MIS-ter, two oh, a sixteen seed gap. They finished third. That's a qualifier's dream run through a main draw.

Tori: One more from round one. The twenty-four seed, MITCH-ul KEH-dee and ben VAWT, swept the nine seed, mah-TAY-oh BUR-dik and kee-AH-noo n-GOO-yen, two oh, a fifteen seed gap. The upsets started on day one and never stopped.

Cooper: Quick note on that qualifier. Friday ran an eight-slot qualifier, and those qualifier teams held their own. KOHL-tin JEH-free and OH-wen kar-LEN-zig, ZEE-oh and ZAH-kuh-ree MY-er, and kris DEH-doh and JAY-red zvih-SEH-vich, the nineteen, twenty-one, and twenty-three seeds, all made the round of sixteen and finished seventeenth.

Tori: One more check on this event. This was an AVP America stop, run by eight oh five Beach, not the AVP pro tour. The pro tour wrapped at Laguna. But the purse was real, sixty thousand dollars, confirmed on the official event page, and the winners' checks were ten grand. Don't let the label fool you.

Cooper: Segment two, the World Tour, and we go to Japan to close out the Asian Games. The men's medal matches went Saturday, October third, at Hekinan Ryokuchi Beach Court in Aichi-Nagoya.

Tori: The gold-medal match. Qatar's sheh-REEF yoo-NOOSS and AH-med tee-ZHAHN against Indonesia's SOHF-yahn RAHK-mahn eh-FEN-dee and bin-TAHNG AHK-bar. Indonesia takes the first, nineteen twenty-one. Then Qatar does what Qatar does. Twenty-one sixteen, fifteen eight. Third straight Asian Games gold for yoo-NOOSS and tee-ZHAHN. Nobody has owned a continent like these two have owned Asia.

Cooper: And the bronze had the upset. Japan's KOH-tah koo-roh-SAH-wah and TY-toh mee-zoo-MAH-chee beat Thailand's por-uh-VEED tah-oh-VAH-toh and pih-TAHK TIP-jahn, twenty-one eighteen, seventeen twenty-one, fifteen twelve. The hosts take bronze at home. The medal table reads gold Qatar, silver Indonesia, bronze Japan.

Tori: Quick program note on those seeds. The seed numbers came from our preview last week and we couldn't independently re-verify them on the official results site. The scores and the medals are official. The seeds are as-reported.

Cooper: Beach Pro Tour check. No tour events this week. The last Futures wrapped in Italy. Next stop, Alanya, Turkey, October fifteenth through eighteenth. Twelve main-draw teams and sixteen in the qualifier per gender. The men's main draw is topped by Turkey's OHz-deh-meer and KOO-roo, and Bulgaria's meh-hahn-JEES-kee and KAHL-chev, the Budapest finalists, are in as the four seed. The Americans EZ-ruh krohn and ZAH-kuh-ree SOHL are in the men's qualifier.

Tori: Women's side in Alanya. China's jee-AHNG and joh top the main draw, with Lithuania's groo-jin-SKY-teh and kriz-ah-now-SKY-teh and Brazil's ahn-DREH-suh kah-vahl-KAHN-chee and tah-EES TROY-mahn in the mix. The women's qualifier is topped by China's see-YOO chee and ming JWAHNG, and the USA's deh-LAY-nee PEH-ruh-nik, ninth at Santa Barbara last weekend, is in the qualifier. One note, Indonesia's silver medalists, AHK-bar and eh-FEN-dee, withdrew from the men's qualifier.

Cooper: Grass check. Quiet on the grass this week, no events over the ten-thousand-dollar bar. But circle October twenty-third through twenty-fifth. The AVP Grass Nationals in Gainesville, Florida. Twenty-one thousand dollars in guaranteed open prize money across the divisions, triples and twos. Registration is still open, and the early bird rate ends Sunday, October eleventh, at eleven fifty-nine PM. This is the last big-money domestic weekend of the fall.

Tori: The Scene. No new partner splits this week. And the Ehlers-Wickler next chapter is set from last week. nils AY-lers with LOO-ee voosst, KLEH-mens VIK-ler with LOO-kahs FRETCH-ner, both pointed at LA twenty twenty-eight.

Cooper: TruVolley check, and the same programming note as last week. There's no saved TruVolley login, so we're on the public top fifty again. Top of the world, Norway's AHN-ders MOHL at fourteen point four one, KREES-tyan SUH-room at fourteen point three one, oh-LEG steh-yahn-OHV-skee at fourteen point two nine. This week's movers on the public board, eh-VAHN-droh up one to forty-one, teh-VAHN BUR-ger, mee-HAH-oo BREE-uhl, and stehn-FAN BOOR-mahns all up one, and NAH-slen DEE-ahz down five. The subscriber-only movers sit behind the login, and none of next weekend's domestic entrants are on the public board, so today's picks go on entry points and form, and we'll say it plainly.

Tori: Segment three. Player Spotlight of the Week, presented by Meta Muse. This week's pick, EL-uh KAHN-er.

Cooper: Twenty-seven days. That's the gap between EL-uh KAHN-er's two titles. On September seventh she won the fifty-third Mother Lode in Aspen with MOL-ee SHAW. On October fourth she won the Santa Barbara Open with JEH-sih-kuh smith, as the eight seed, beating the one seed and the two seed back to back. Ten thousand dollars, a Rad Power Bike, and a final that went sixteen twenty-one, twenty-one seventeen, fifteen thirteen.

Tori: What makes KAHN-er dangerous is the sideout game. She doesn't need the break to win points, she just needs the ball. When the wind came up at East Beach on Sunday, she kept siding out at a rate the top seeds couldn't match, and DOO-rish and KAY-nig ran out of answers. Two partners, two titles, one month. That's not a hot streak. That's a resume.

Cooper: Player Spotlight, EL-uh KAHN-er. Presented by Meta Muse.

Tori: Winner picks. And a scheduling note first. There are no events over the ten-thousand-dollar bar next weekend. The AVP Next stop in Miami Beach is eight thousand, under the bar, and the Grass Nationals are two weekends out. So our picks go to Alanya, the next stop that matters, October fifteenth through eighteenth, on FIVB entry points and form, because the ratings are behind the login.

Cooper: Men's side. meh-hahn-JEES-kee and KAHL-chev of Bulgaria. The four seed by points, finalists at the Budapest Futures this year, the most battle-tested team in this field. When the draw is this open, take the team that's been deep on Sundays before.

Tori: Women's side. jee-AHNG and joh of China. The top seeds by a mile, twelve sixty points to the next team's ten forty. In a Futures field, the points gap talks. Chaos watch, Lithuania's groo-jin-SKY-teh and kriz-ah-now-SKY-teh. They took third in Budapest coming out of the qualifier. They know how to run through a bracket from the bottom.

Cooper: That's the show for this Friday, October ninth. Qatar's three-peat is complete, Japan takes bronze at home, Santa Barbara crowns an eight seed, and the road to Gainesville starts now.

Tori: New episodes drop every Friday. Subscribe to the Sideout AI feed wherever you get your podcasts, and follow at sideoutai on Instagram for clips from every episode. We're Tori and Cooper, broadcasting from Saint Petersburg, Florida, presented by Meta Muse. See you on the sand.