Hawaii beach volleyball: Former SandBow Karissa Cook wins gold at Pan Am Games
Former Hawaii beach all-American Karissa Cook and partner Jace Pardon teamed to win gold at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, on Tuesday.
The U.S. pair rallied to beat Argentina 14-21, 22-20, 15-10 — the first time in the tournament that the duo dropped a set. Cook/Pardon defeated Argentina’s defending Pan Am Games champion and two-time Olympian Ana Gallay and her partner Fernanda Pereira,
Thick fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean blanketed the hills surrounding the sandy venue in Lima. But the 28-year-old Cook, who grew up in Santa Cruz, Calif., said it was ideal.
“My hometown is just like this,” Cook told the Associated Press. “I love this weather.”
Cook played indoor volleyball at Stanford before transferring to Hawaii for one season. In 2014, she went 38-6 with fellow all-American Brittany Tiegs at No. 1 and were the runners-up in the AVCA Pairs National Championship, two seasons before the NCAA began sanctioning the sport.
Tuesday was the first gold medal for the U.S. at the Pan American Games.
Jace Pardon is the little sister of University of Hawaii water polo player Sivan Pardon
Today’s paper said they used a split blocking system “in which they both spent time defending at the net and in the backcourt.
That allowed them to attack from behind the baseline.”
1. Sivan played 2009-12.
Coincidently Pardon and Tiegs were former partners, won several tournaments together. The two were at Florida State before Tiegs transfered to UH.
2. they’re both ‘Bigs’ so that allows them to do so.
https://www.hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=50411
new thread up for Thursday.