Anaya Evans and Katie Keefe headed to Pompano Beach, Florida for the FIVB Beach Pro Tour Futures event which took place 5th-8th December.
They took an impressive 5th place at the event, narrowing missing out in the quarter finals 21-23, 21-9, 16-18 to Belgium pair Piret and Coens.
Throughout the pool stages they had incredibly competitive matches, beating the Hungarian pair convincingly 21-13, 21-13, before losing closely to the eventual silver medalists Shields/Poppinga 23-25, 20-22.
They met another US pair ranked 2nd in the competition in the round of 12, winning 2 sets to nil, before facing their tight quarter final match.
Progression
The results continue to show the girls progression as they train abroad in the US, working through a different competition system to gain competitive experience together. With Katie currently training and studying at GCU in the US, she is gaining a high level of training and competition through the Collegiate system. Anaya until recently had also been a GCU as a coach and training partner, and will continue to train within the US system.
Katie says “Honestly, this was a really good tournament for us, we are definitely at the level to medal. The last game was a tough one in the wind, but over the weekend any set we lost were by two points in extra time, so there are definitely good opportunities and takeaways.”
Congratulations
The BVF want to express their congratulations to Anaya and Katie. Going through a different system is not without its challenges for the girls, but they are in a positive environment for growth as they continue to work together.