The top four women’s seeds advanced to the semifinals of the AVP Gold Series Atlanta Open, and Sunday’s final three matches at Atlantic Station will feature four of the top-10 teams in the latest Olympic rankings. Top-seeded Kelly Cheng, a 2020 U.S. Olympian, and partner Sara Hughes will meet 2020 Canadian Olympians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, seeded third, in one semifinal. In the other semifinal, second-seeded Americans Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss will take on fourth-seeded Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil, a 2020 U.S. Olympian.
Saturday, Cheng and Hughes kept their string of sweeps alive, toppling 13th-seeded Brook Bauer and Katie Horton, 21-16, 29-27. Kloth and Nuss also have not lost a set in the tournament, and upended Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, 21-16, 21-17.
The double-elimination tournament gives teams a chance for redemption, and Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson took advantage with a 24-22, 21-18 triumph over 11th-seeded Sara Pavan and Geena Urango to battle back into the semis. Meanwhile, Cannon and Sponcil spent Saturday crawling back through the contenders’ bracket to secure a berth in Sunday’s semifinals. They swept all three opponents – Deahna Kraft/Zana Muno (21-18, 21-15), Megan Kraft/Emily Stockman (21-15, 21-18) and Bauer/Horton (21-15, 21-18).
Three of the top four men’s teams also advanced to the semifinals. Defending Atlanta Open champion Miles Partain and Andy Benesh beat fifth-seeded Chase Budinger and Miles Evans, 18-21, 21-18, 15-10 in their only match of the day. Their semifinal opponent will be second-seeded Theo Brunner and Trevor Crabb, who navigated the contenders’ bracket to stay alive into Sunday.
Third-seeded Tri Bourne, a 2020 U.S. Olympian, and Chaim Schalk, a 2016 Canadian Olympian, went to three sets against Brunner and Crabb to land in the other semi, where they will meet Budinger and Evans.
Play is scheduled to resume Sunday at 9:30 a.m., with the women’s final set for noon, followed by the men’s final. Both will be televised on ESPN2.
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