Pro Beach Brothers in Arms

20 digbeachvolleyball.com | 2020 #1 Brothers in Arms In the long lineage of notable sibling beach teams, teenagers Marcus and Miles Partain are up there with the best

hen it comes to discussing the greatest brother combinations in beach history, much of the oxygen in the room gets sucked up by the Crabb brothers. And rightfully so. They keep adding to their resumes with significant honors – most recently, Taylor’s four-star FIVB tournament with (November in Chetumal,W Mexico) and Trevor’s sublime triumph at the last August. But while Taylor and Trevor won a few NORCECA’s playing together, they could never capture an AVP or FIVB title, which, in part, led them to seek different partners. The Crabbs are not the only elite brother combo (see page XX) to seek the pro limelight. In fact, the most intriguing set of siblings may be the Partains, 19-year-old Marcus and 18-year-old Miles. Together, they were the youngest team to make an AVP main draw, which they achieved in Hermosa Beach, , in July of 2017. Separately, Miles, at 15 years and seven I do (get excited when Miles months, became the youngest individual to ever make an AVP main draw. “ But it wasn’t until this past fall that Miles really broke out. He finished fifth in a fully loaded plays well). Regardless of AVP Chicago event with , who at the time was twice as old as his precocious partner. Nevertheless, Miles’ poise under fire was truly exceptional. Four of their seven matches were over whether he’s my brother, it’s an hour in length and included a seminal victory over Trevor Crabb and , themselves fresh off the win at the Manhattan Beach Open. Miles is obviously a fast learner. He and Lotman won a NORCECA event in Ocho Rios, really cool to see someone Jamaica, in November, turning the tables in the final on the team that ultimately eliminated them in Chicago, Jeremy Casebeer and . Miles’ natural instincts for the game at such a that young and passionate young age are reminiscent of , who is second all-time in pro beach victories (139) behind (148). Miles, a lefty, doesn’t hammer the ball but instead is very crafty, able to manipulate around the block and find open seams. On defense, he is a careful study of his about the game doing so well. opponents’ tendencies. The Brothers Partain first caught the beach “bug” playing in a CBVA youth tournament in -Pa I’m definitely happy for him. cific Palisades, California, when Marcus was 12 and Miles was 10. It probably didn’t hurt that the tournament director was , winner of 122 tournament titles. Stokie has remained a confidant to the boys ever since. A few years after meeting the Partains, he imparted some sage advice that Miles took to heart, telling him, “Don’t think, just play.” “I tend to be very analytical,” Miles says. “He told me to just turn off my mind.” The Partains hail from the same high school, Palisades, where Stoklos made a name for himself Marcus Partain on his precocious brother. in the late 1970s. And it wasn’t just him. The Dolphins were regularly spitting out top players, ” including Olympic indoor gold medalists Chris Marlowe, Steve Salmons, Dave Saunders and Ricci Luyties, Olympic beach gold medalist and outstanding beach players like Fred Sturm, Don Shaw, Wally Goodrick, Roger Clark and Jeff Rodgers. But ever since the 1980s, the well has run dry. That is, until the Partains entered the scene. Given their youth, temperament and skill set, the Partains would still seem to have a lot of room to grow, literally. Miles picked up an inch over the summer to stand 6-3 and Marcus, while still “only” 6-2, may also have some upward mobility ahead. When the two play together, they split block, but it does bring up the inevitable question as to whether they can stay together as partners given the behemoths that stride the sand these days. “We’re not 6-4, 6-5, so I guess at a higher level it might be tough to continue to split block,” Marcus says. “And it might be wise for us to see if we can play together with respectively bigger partners. But we do love playing together. We shared the same room our whole lives (until this past fall when Marcus enrolled at UCLA). I literally sleep five feet away from him, so we just know each other so well. And we can be up front with each other. We don’t have to hide anything. We can just tell it how it is. We have talked about playing Seaside (Oregon, where they played for the first time in 2019) every year for as long as we can.” For his part, Miles is also diplomatic on what can be a thorny topic among volleyball families.

Miles & Marcus Partain (Photo by Peter Brouillet)

2020 #1 | digbeachvolleyball.com 21 Pro Beach The Best Beach Bros

Trevor & Kevin & Scott Wong

Sinjin & Andrew Smith I’m stoked that he won his first (big) Open and, two, he did it by Between the two, they have won 142 tournaments, a number beating the best team … us.” that dwarfs the Crabb’s combined total of 21. Of course, Sinjin (one year older than Andrew) won 139 of them playing mostly Trevor & Taylor Crabb with Randy Stoklos. However, the Smith brothers did play five Both had milestone years in 2019. Older brother Trevor, tournaments together in 1978 and 1980 and had good – but not who turned 30 in September, not only won the AVP Manhattan great – success. Their best finish was second place in 1980 at Beach with Tri Bourne but placed fourth in the World Champi- Marine Street, where they lost in the final to Andy Fishburn and onships, with all three losses coming against eventual medal Dane Selznick, a team that won the World Championship later winners. In the provisional Olympic rankings through the end that summer. of 2019, they were the second-ranked American team behind “Playing with a sibling at the highest level of competition in only…Taylor Crabb and his partner, Jake Gibb. Taylor, 28, won the world, how great is that?” Sinjin says. “The reality is, do you four of six AVP tourneys last year and then won that milestone connect well enough with your sibling to be effective on the FIVB tournament in Mexico. What’s scary is that the brothers court? I don’t think Andrew lacked any physical skill relative to are just entering their beach volleyball primes. me. He could do everything. He was one of the top players of the time. If there was a difference in our styles of play (it was that) I was probably a little more intense. Playing together can Brian & Tim Bomgren be great if both of you have the same goals and frame of mind. The Bomgrens from Woodbury, Minnesota, have a couple But there’s always going to be a sibling rivalry issue that you of notable distinctions. Not only are they one of the greatest cannot control.” brother duos in history, but along with (Wiscon- One of Andrew’s three wins, his last one, was in Miami in sin), the best players to ever come out of the Midwest. Brian, 1989 when he teamed with Dan Vrebalovich to beat Sinjin and the elder Bomgren by four years, stopped playing two sea- Stoklos in the final. “Randy thought that maybe I wasn’t playing sons ago, but Tim is still going strong. Together, the Bomgrens as hard because it was Andrew,” Sinjin says. “I can assure you played 38 tournaments in eight years. They won two NVLs in that was not the case. I not only don’t like losing, but I would 2012, and their best AVP finish was in 2015 when they took not want to lose to my younger brother. When I was able to sit third in New Orleans, losing only to Olympians Jake Gibb and down for a moment and put things into perspective, I thought Casey Patterson and and .

22 digbeachvolleyball.com | 2020 #1 Tim Bomgren, without a doubt the best hand setter to ever come Miles & Marcus Partain out of the Midwest, had his two best seasons in 2018 and 2019, earn- ing three second-place finishes with three different partners: Taylor “I’m just taking it day by day, and we’ll just see per event,” Crabb, Chaim Schalk and Troy Field. he says. “But Paul (Lotman) and I have talked about playing together. I still want to play with Marcus as well. I just want to Kevin & Scott Wong try to keep options open.” Unlike the Smiths and Crabbs, who are close in age, Kevin and On the surface, there appears to be no jealousy between the Scott Wong are separated by six years. Kevin (the elder) had a terrific brothers. career keynoted by 10 victories, including three on the FIVB tour and “I do (get excited when Miles plays well),” Marcus says. two Manhattan Beach Open titles. He also represented the U.S. at the “Regardless of whether he’s my brother, it’s really cool to see 2000 Sydney Olympics, where he and partner Rob Heidger placed someone that young and passionate about the game doing so fifth. well. I’m definitely happy for him.” Scott Wong won a NORCECA tournament with Hans Stolfus, and he It was Miles, in fact, who picked Lotman to play with, not took a second with Aaron Wachtfogel in 2007 at an AVP tournament vice versa. in Brooklyn, losing memorably in extra points to soon-to-be Olympic “It was definitely me who sought him out,” Miles says. “I saw gold medalists and Phil Dalhausser. him playing with Gabe Ospina at the Chicago AVP in 2017, and The Wong brothers played in five tournaments in 2006 with a best I got his email from somewhere. I emailed him and asked him to of ninth in AVP competition. “Amazingly rewarding to team up with play to see what his thoughts were for the coming AVP season. my brother,” Kevin says. “His combo of skillset and physicality were And it worked out for the next AVP in Seattle (in 2018, they pretty special. In some ways, we were really ahead of our time. A lot placed 17th). He has national team experience (Lotman played of things that (Italy Olympian) Adrian Carambula is doing now with indoor for the U.S. at the 2012 London Olympics), and that’s the over on twos, the motion offense, the creativity, we were doing 13 super valuable for a young player like me who doesn’t have as years ago. The challenges of playing with Scott were that our person- much experience. And my parents thought highly of him.” alities were too similar. Chris Marlowe and I (on NBC’s beach volleyball Scheduling for the brothers is a major issue. Aside from school broadcasts) always talk about chemistry on air and how the blend of (Marcus is a freshman at UCLA, and Miles will graduate early personalities is so important. I always did my best with emotional part- from Palisades before enrolling at UCLA too), both are indoor ners, and I would bring the cerebral component. It is so hard to predict players of some repute. “I definitely love playing indoors as how each partnership is going to gel. You would think with brothers it well,” Marcus says. “The thing about indoor that you don’t get wouldn’t be so tough, but the unpredictable alchemy is the same.” on beach is the overall team aspect. It’s really fun getting fired up with a bunch of teammates, rather than one teammate. We Larry & Andy Witt are both setters. It’s like the quarterback who gets to control the The Witts, who both played at Stanford, had meritorious indoor ca- flow of the offense, which is really fun. And it’s kind of like a reers in addition to their beach bona fides. Andy was an opposite hitter chess game, super strategic. There are different parts about both on the USA Olympic team in 2000, but he did play 31 beach events (indoor and beach) that are super intriguing. I want to keep the over the course of six seasons including eight with Larry. Together, the option open about playing indoor as well as the beach.” Witts’ best finish was a fifth in Huntington Beach, California, in 2001. One of the most interesting aspects about the brothers is how Separately, Andy clocked two fifths with his indoor Olympic teammate, much they are students of the game. They regularly watch An- , one in 2003, the other in 2004. ders Mol and Christian Sorum’s “BeachVolley Vikings” channel Larry will always be remembered for his partnership with Sean on YouTube. And they don’t miss an opportunity to check out, Rosenthal. One of the most popular teams on tour and with Rosie’s on demand, the FIVB three-, four- and five-star tournaments on Raiders in tow, they won AVPs in Belmar in 2003 and Fort Lauderdale YouTube as well. in 2004. “I try to play to my natural strengths,” Miles says. “But I really like watching the Norwegian defender (Christian Sorum). His David & Marc Denitz sideout play and the way he fakes on defense is really intriguing The Denitz brothers could be the finest pair of identical male twins to me. I like watching Taylor Crabb also, just his offensive range to have ever played the game. Their heyday was from 1980-1985, and his vision. And I like watching this guy from Austria, Alex- when they logged impressive finishes that included a third in Hermosa ander Huber, who is like 5-9 and has really great fundamentals. I in 1981 and a second at Rosecrans in 1982. Marc is a left-hander who think he’s one of the best to learn from (for) defenders right now played right side, and David is a right-hander who played left. “Our because he does so well, even though he’s shorter than everyone bone marrows are the same, so there is a mindset that is identical,” else.” David says. “Marc and I used to bicker with one another, but then we For those of you now name-checking Huber, he is the just said, ‘Shut up and let’s play.’ The biggest negative for us was that 34-year-old who played for Austria in the Rio Olympics and we were two small guys (both under six feet) like the McNamaras (cur- partnered with Robin Seidl to pull that stunning upset over rent generation identical twins Megan and Nicole), and there is a phys- Casey Patterson and Jake Gibb in pool play. ical aspect that you can’t overcome. In the sideout era, we had trouble Marcus, like his brother, also admires the game of Mol and scoring points when we played Hovland-Dodd and Smith-Stoklos.’” Sorum, and his favorite American is Reid Priddy. “I have never met him,” Marcus says. “I have just heard great things. He is a Riley & Maddison McKibben real solid dude, hard worker, super passionate about the game Maddison, the younger of the two brothers at age 29, has an AVP and definitely someone I try to learn from. I respect him a lot.” tournament title to his credit, but not with older brother Riley (31). Given their rigorous schedules, the brothers Partain do not Maddison’s greatest triumph occurred in 2017 when Riley was in- have a full-time beach coach, but they lean on Dylan Maarek jured; he teamed up with Ty Loomis to win the San Francisco Open. (when they’re not facing him in an AVP Next or CBVA event) Together, the McKibbins had eight ninth-place finishes before break- and have received pointers on how to block from legendary ing through in Chicago in September with a fifth. You have to admire Brazilian Jose Loiola and also from Lotman. Time will certainly their loyalty to one another; aside from the Bomgrens, the McKibbins tell, but before the Partains are done, they may end up atop have the most “elite” tournaments together (27) of any other domestic DiG’s rankings of best brother tandems. They may also leave an brother pairing. indelible mark on the sport as the vanguard of the next wave of great American players. DiG

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