As of press time, Lauren and partner Brittany Hochevar concluded their journey at the ongoing Long Beach Grand Slam. The American duo finished 5th and taking home $10,000 in prize money.
Here’s our chat with the 31 year old who also finished 5th at the 2013 Beach Volleyball World Championship just a few weeks ago.
What’s special about the FIVB Tour coming to California and why should fans attend?
There has not been an FIVB event in the US in 10 years, since 2003 when it was held in Carson, CA. I was at that event as a fan and it was the first time I saw an international competition. This is a rare opportunity for American fans to see the best beach volleyball players from all parts of the world compete, and to see the progression of our sport.
As an American athlete, how important is this tournament on US soil for you personally and professionally?
Grand Slams are always important tournaments because there are more points and more money at stake. However, Long Beach will be particularly important because this is the only opportunity I will have to play against international competition in front of a home crowd of family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, players I’ve coached, etc. who can come and support.
I’ve become accustomed to playing in front of crowds who don’t necessarily share the same language, so I’m excited to understand what hecklers are yelling at me.
What is different about playing in the FIVB as compared with domestic tours, level of play, fan support, prize money?
This depends. The prize money is lower this year than domestically web domestically and internationally, since I started playing in 2003. However, the level of play is very high. Usually, there is a post-Olympic drop in competition, but this hasn’t happened this year. Even though there are some big retirements/names missing from tournaments in Misty May, Simone Kuhn, Larissa Franca, Juliana Silva, Matt Fuerbringer, Marcio Araujo, Benjamin Insfran, etc. and even though there are new teams and new players, the level of competition is still very high. For fan support, I think Klagenfurt gets the most fans of any tournament (maybe the most vocal), but we will see what Rosie’s Raiders can bring to match the international level.
What’s the most memorable beach volleyball moment so far this season?
Having the foresight to dehydrate 2 lbs of bison before leaving for China for two weeks narrowly eclipsed the joy of watching two of our new men’s teams win back to back events.
What’s the most interesting fact we should know about your partner?
Brittany Hochevar takes monthly moon baths and salt soaks with her moonstones in the ocean… And this is just the tip of iceberg!
Keep up the great work girls!
Make USA proud!
(images: Karim Levy)