AVP Championships Presented by Acer Begins With Qualifying Action

CHICAGO - Sept. 1, 2016 - PRLog -- The $200,000 AVP Championships Presented by Acer got underway Thursday with men's and women's open Qualifying action throughout the day with teams fighting for coveted spots in the Main Draw. Play in the 24-team, double-elimination Main-Draw tournament begins Friday at 8 a.m. and runs through Sunday's finals at Oak Street Beach (1000 Lake Shore Drive) on the shores of Lake Michigan.

The day's qualifying action saw eight teams (four per gender) advance from a field of 48 men's duos and 20 women's squads to tomorrow's Main Draw. Women's qualifying winners included:

• Bre Moreland / Jacqui Wood
• Summer Nash / Amber Walker
• Terri Del Conte / Maria J Orellana
• Karissa Cook / Katie Spieler

Men's teams advancing were:

• Jonathan Drake / Chris Luers
• Andrew Dentler / Raffe Paulis
• Dylan Maarek / Jeff Samuels
• Zoran Grabovac / Jorge Martinez

Scheduled players for the Main Draw on Friday include 2016 Olympics Bronze Medalist April Ross, playing with Kelly Reeves, plus three teams who represented the red, white and blue in Rio – Lauren Fendrick/Brooke Sweat, former Olympic gold medalist Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena and Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson; as well as top ranked players in the nation including brothers Taylor and Trevor Crabb, Tri Bourne and John Hyden, and Lane Carico and Summer Ross.

Results and brackets from Thursday's open Qualifiers and Friday's Main Draw schedule can be found here:

Men: http://avp.com/stats/mens-championships-in-chicago-presented-by-acer-2016/

Women: http://avp.com/stats/womens-championships-in-chicago-presented-by-acer-2016/

Friday's highlighted Main Draw matches include:

• 11:20 a.m.: #2 Seeded Brothers Taylor/ Trevor Crab
• 12:25 p.m.: 2016 Olympians Phil Dalhausser (2008 gold medalist)/Nick Lucena
• 12:25 p.m.: #3 Seed 2016 Olympian April Ross/Kelly Reeves
• 1:30 p.m.: 2016 Olympians Lauren Fendrick/Brooke Sweat
• 2:25 p.m.: Top-seeded women Lane Carico/Summer Ross
• 2:35 p.m.: Top-seeded men and 2016 Olympians Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson

The AVP Championships Presented by Acer is the eighth and final stop on the AVP's 2016 schedule. General Admission is Free. Premium packages and VIP seating can be purchased at https://avp.ticketspice.com/chicago-ticketing. NBC will provide live coverage beginning at noon CT on Sunday. Matches will be streamed live at www.avp.com, prior to NBC's live coverage.

The AVP thanks its partners: Acer, Barefoot, Breville Jaybird, Samuel Adams, Smartypants Vitamins, Obrigado, Ocean Spray, Powercrunch and Wilson for their support of the AVP Championships.

ABOUT THE AVP:

The AVP, completing its 33^rd season, is the premiere American professional beach volleyball tour and exclusive U.S. beach volleyball home of the nation's top male and female athletes, including those who have won gold, silver and bronze medals in the Olympic Games. Under the ownership of Donald Sun since 2012, the AVP held seven tournaments across the U.S. in 2014, eight in 2015 and eight this year.