Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Van Zwieten Wins Bronze Medal at FIVB Event
10/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Beach Volleyball
Van Zwieten and partner Tealle Hunkus struggled during pool play, finishing with just one win in their three matches but advanced from a three-way tie to the elimination round of 24. In the knockout round, the 11th-seeded tandem defeated fellow Americans Heather Hughes and Ali McColloch, who were seeded 12th, eighth-seeded Canadians Jamie Broder and Kristina Valjas, and 17th-seeded Kim Behrens and Sandra Seyfferth of Germany to reach the semifinals.
It was the first time for either player to make the semifinals. The achievement was even more remarkable because it was the duo's first time playing as teammates. After losing in the semifinals, the pair won their first FIVB World Tour medal by defeating Greece's Vasiliki Arvaniti and Maria Tsiartsiani, a duo with 55 FIVB World Tour events together, 21-12 and 21-15 in just 34 minutes to capture the bronze.
Neither player had even qualified for an FIVB World Tour event before Xiamen, with Hunkus having a previous best of 41st place at the 2009 FIVB World Tour Åland Open and Van Zwieten having two previous 33rd-place finishes.