Evans/Budinger Shine in Olympic Debut

PARIS, France. July 29, 2024.- Playing before a sold-out crowd on the hottest day of the Paris Olympics so far, the U.S. beach team of Miles Evans and Chase Budinger began their Olympic journey with a 2-0 (21-14, 21-11) win over Youssef Krou and Arnaud Gauthier-Rat of host France.

The duo, which began partnering last year, comes right back tomorrow, July 30 to face Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot of the Netherlands.

Evans, whose passing had his team in system on nearly every rally, totaled 13 kills, two blocks and six digs. Budinger, whose presence at the net set the tone early, finished with six kills, four blocks and three service aces.

“It felt good against a good opponent,” Budinger said. “They have kind of had our number the last few times in a row so because of that we knew that we had to come out strong because they had that leverage over us.”

Evans/Budinger started the match quickly, scoring the first three points and seven of the first nine with Budinger, the first person in history to appear in an NBA regular season game and in the Olympics in beach volleyball, repeatedly thwarting Krou/Gauthier-Rat at the net. Evans capped a 7-1 by pushing a second ball into the open court and giving the U.S. tandem a 17-7 lead.

The France team responded with five consecutive points to force the U.S. to take its timeout but could not get any closer. Evans scored the team’s last three points to finish the set with 10 points on eight kills and two blocks.

“We came out strong,” Evans said. “It looked like we were a little more composed than they were. I think our game plan really went our way and our coach, Chase and I executed that game plan in a great way. I thought we passed really well and just kind of handled a lot of the nerves.”

After surrendering three of the first four points in the second set, Evans/Budinger regained the lead for good by scoring five of the next six points to take a 6-4 lead. At that point in the match, the French team had recorded eight kills and eight errors trying to find a way around Budinger’s presence at the net. A 6-1 U.S. run culminating with a Budinger block made it 12-6.

Krou/Gauthier-Rat got as close as they would get at 13-9, but Evans/Budinger ended the match on an 8-2 run. Budinger scored the team’s final four points, including his fourth block and third ace of the match.

Olympic Games Paris 2024 Beach Volleyball: schedule and results