Former Husker Lara Dykstra earns first beach gold medal

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Former standout Libero Lara Dykstra, who started her Freshman & Sophomore years before transferring from Nebraska to attend a school closer to home in Redondo Beach, CA and focus on her sand career, has won her first professional gold medal.  Way to go, Lara!

 

 

 

 

 

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Americans Wheeler/Dykstra Take Vaduz Gold

It wasn’t an easy road for Allie Wheeler/Lara Dykstra, but the Americans won their first World Tour medal as a pairing on Saturday.

 

The 14th seeded duo, which started the tournament with a tiebreak win in the opening qualifying round, went 6-1 en route to the title in their first FIVB tournament together.

 

After topping Italians Carolina Ferraris/Francesca Michieletto 21-13, 20-22, 15-13 to open the tournament, the pair solidified its spot in the main draw with a sweep of Switzerland’s Kim Huber/Tatjana Greber. Wheeler/Dykstra won their third in a row to open Pool C play, before stumbling against Greeks Konstantina Tsopoulou/Dimitra Manavi in the pool title match           (21-16, 21-17).

 

The Americans bounced back in the Round of 12, topping Sweden’s Fanny Lindstrom/Sara Malmstrom (21-13, 21-11). In the quarterfinals the pair hung on for a tiebreak win over Austria’s Dorina Klinger/Ronja Klinger (21-18, 16-21, 15-8). Finally, a sweep of Swiss duo Esmee Bobner/Zoe Verge-Depre (21-19, 21-19) put the pair in the finals.

 

With the gold medal within reach, Wheeler/Dykstra came through with a 21-13, 21-17 victory over 10th-seeded Agata Ceynowa/Martyna Kloda of Poland. Wheeler is in her first season as a pro after completing her senior season at USC in May.

 

“Above all, we used the tournament to grow as a team and gain confidence in ourselves,” the pair said. “We succeeded well and we are very happy that we could win one of our first overseas tournament.”