Broncos Ava Anderson and Addison Wolden finished in the top half of the bracket for the second consecutive year at the AVCA National Pairs Tournament in Huntsville, Alabama. This prestigious tournament attracts the best pairs from beach volleyball programs across the country to compete for a national title.
Anderson and Wolden’s highly-ranked finishes mark the only two times a Bronco pair has finished in the top half of the bracket in the renowned tournament. A year after finishing a program-best 25th place, the duo finished this year’s Nov. 7-9 competition tied for 31st.
After the tournament, head coach Alex Venardos praised his players’ grit and expressed confidence in his team.
“There weren’t any matches they weren’t in,” Venardos said. “We had a lot of losses that came down to the wire in the third set… but the reality is they went toe-to-toe with some of the top pairs in the country. It’s a good indicator that we can compete with anyone across the net.”
The Anderson-Wolden tandem opened the tournament with a victory over UNC Wilmington. Shortly after, the duo nearly pulled off an upset over sixth-seeded UCLA pair Cassie Dodd and Alexa Fernandez. The two Bruins bounced back with a second-set win after Anderson and Wolden took the first set 15-21. The pair from Westwood narrowly evaded the persistence of the Broncos, escaping the third set with a 15-13 win. UCLA eventually finished runner-up to Long Beach State.
After the UCLA match, Anderson and Wolden continued the trend of close-scoring, three-set matches, but couldn’t find themselves on the winning end. They lost their final three contests to pairs from ASU, Tulane and Coastal Carolina. All three clashes were lost by three or less points in the third set, showcasing the resilience and relentlessness that Boise State Broncos always display, win or lose.
Ava Anderson spoke on her match-to-match mindset that, despite not resulting in victories, kept her and Wolden neck-and-neck with top-tier pairs throughout their final three matches.
“I try to start with a clean slate every match,” Anderson said. “Towards the end, it was a lot on the body and the mental, but I try to take the game as slow as possible and not think about the previous matches and stay present and enjoy the moment as best as I can.”
Senior duo Allyson Alden and Abbie Wolf represented Boise State in the tournament as well, earning a 45th-place finish. After an opening-round loss to a pair of TCU Horned Frogs, Alden and Wolf rebounded by defeating North Alabama’s Audrey Gauthier and Selma Robinson in straight sets. Alden and Wolf lost their next two sets to pairs from Arizona and Southern Cal, before finishing with a second straight-set win, this time over Alexis Keeter and Ava Lilliquist of Florida Gulf Coast.
Despite the losses for both Bronco pairs, there’s no doubt every match was hard-fought and met with tenacity. Even in matches against big-time opponents like UCLA and TCU, the Broncos never wavered.
“It’s never been a big deal for me what the name on the jersey is or who the player is,” Wolf said. “I just want to play volleyball and compete to the best of my ability. I just go in with an open mind.”
With the fall season now in the rearview mirror, Boise State women’s beach volleyball looks ahead to its more competitive spring slate. As the fall season serves as a time for fine-tuning and working out kinks, head coach Alex Venardos is eager to apply what his team has learned during the fall to the spring.
“The fall is hard because it’s hard to separate the results from the process,” Venardos said. “It’s an ongoing conversation but we should be satisfied with our process this fall. If anything, we should know that the process works and use it as fuel to be competitive in the spring semester.”
