Santa Barbara Olympians Score in Paris

MEN’S BEACH VOLLEYBALL:  Miles Evans and Chase Budinger gazed at the Eiffel Tower from the sandscape of the volleyball stadium for the last time Monday. The U.S.A. pair had prolonged their stay at the prime real estate of the 2024 Paris Olympics by reaching the knockout round of 16, but the power of defending gold medalists Anders Mol and Christian Sorum proved too much to handle. The Norwegians won their fourth consecutive match in straight sets, 21-16, 21-14.

The record will show that Evans and Budinger finished in ninth place, a ranking vastly higher than their prospects when they launched their two-year journey to qualify for the Olympics. Evans, 34, had been a journeyman on the pro beach tour for almost a decade, while Budinger, 36, was a recent arrival to the beach after playing in the NBA for seven seasons.

To wind up in the Olympics with a respectable defeat against the world’s best team left both of them feeling gratified.

“This is by far the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life,” Evans, who started hitting volleyballs as a sophomore at Dos Pueblos High 17 years ago, told U.S.A. Today.

Playing in an arena with 12,000 fans was nothing new to Budinger, who played college basketball at Arizona and saw action with four NBA teams, but he found the Olympic atmosphere to be uniquely exciting. “You can’t replicate the type of memories that we have,” he said.

The pair made a successful debut in Paris by sweeping the French team of Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat, 21-14, 21-11. But losses to teams from the Netherlands and Spain forced them into a playoff known as “lucky losers” to qualify for the round of 16. They took care of business in that one, pulling out a 21-19, 21-17 victory over Australia’s Thomas Hodges and Zachary Schubert.

Evans, who played collegiately at SBCC and UCSB, is the fifth men’s beach volleyball Olympian from Santa Barbara, including the original gold medalist Karch Kiraly in 1996; Eric Fonoimoana and Todd Rogers, former Gauchos who won gold medals in 2000 and 2008; and Dax Holdren, who placed fifth in 2004.

WOMEN’S WATER POLO:  Embroiled in a fierce defensive battle for a place in the final four of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the U.S.A. needed Santa Barbara’s Ryann Neushul to help stave off Hungary, 5-4, in Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Seeking their fourth consecutive gold medal, the Americans will take on Australia in the semifinals on Thursday, August 8.

Since 2004, the U.S.A. has reached the podium in every Olympic water polo competition, but that streak was in jeopardy against the aggressive Hungarians, who scored the first goal of the game and led 2-1 after the first quarter. They were shut out in the second quarter, thanks in part to Neushul’s role as a defender, and the Americans forged a 3-2 halftime lead.

Hungary tied the score at 3-3 and again at 4-4 in the third quarter. Rachel Fattal scored U.S.A.’s winning goal midway through the final period. To preserve the lead, Neushul was again in the thick of the defensive action, and goalie Ashleigh Johnson stopped numerous shots. She finished the game with 17 saves.

Australia won its quarterfinal game over Greece, 9-6.

The American women (whose assistant coach is Santa Barbara High graduate Molly Cahill), opened group play with a 15-6 romp over Greece. But their aura of invincibility took a hit when Spain defeated them, 13-11. They finished group play with two convincing wins, 10-3 over Italy and 17-5 over France. Neushul scored a goal in the former game and two goals against France.

Spain will face the Netherlands in the other semifinal. The championship game is scheduled to take place Saturday, August 10, at 6:35 a.m. Pacific time.

WOMEN’S INDOOR VOLLEYBALL:  Brazil, a familiar foe to the U.S.A. women, stands in the way of their quest to play for a second gold medal. They will face off in the semifinals on Thursday, August 8. The two teams previously met in the finals three times, Brazil winning the championship in 2008 and 2012, and the U.S.A. breaking through for its first title at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games.

The Paris Games did not start auspiciously for the Americans, who came into the competition ranked fifth in the world. They dropped their first two sets against China, rallied brilliantly to send the match into a deciding fifth set, only to lose a 15-13 heartbreaker.

Bouncing back has been a hallmark of the team under Santa Barbara High grad Karch Kiraly, who took over as head coach in 2013, and in their next match, the Americans prevailed in another five-setter against Serbia, winning 17-15 in the fifth. An uneven sweep of France sent them into the quarterfinals Tuesday, and they hit their rhythm during a 25-22, 25-14, 25-20 sweep of Poland. Their only bad patch was the start of the third set, as Poland went out to a 7-1 lead that was quickly erased.

RUGBY SEVENS:  A dramatic finish to the women’s bronze-medal match led to appreciation of this fast-paced game. Alex Sedrick broke loose on a 90-yard run on the last play and added a two-point conversion kick to lift the U.S.A. to a stunning 14-12 victory over Australia.

Both men’s and women’s local rugby clubs will be playing and socializing in the Santa Barbara Sevens tournament on Saturday, August 17, at Elings Park. MEN’S SOCCER:  Former UCSB defender Michael Boxall ended his second Olympic appearance with New Zealand, which went winless in three group matches, including a 4-1 defeat to the U.S.A. Boxall played every minute for the Kiwis. He will rejoin Minnesota United in Major League Soccer.