Santa Barbara beach volleyball professional Katie Spieler and partner Jessica Foster advanced to the main draw of the AVP Manhattan Beach Open on Thursday.
Spieler/Foster won three matches in the single-elimination qualifier at the Manhattan Beach Pier. They rallied from a first-set loss to beat Avery Jackson/Brooke Rockwell (17-21, 21-18, 15-11), swept Leona Inami/Brisa Zapata-Reaves (21-13, 25-23) and outlasted Maddy Byrne/Quinn Perry (18-21, 21-14, 15-13) to earn a main draw berth.
Spieler/Foster were drawn against No. 2 seeds Terese Cannon/Megan Kraft. They lost 21-13, 25-23 and then were eliminated by Thais Treumann/Sarah Schermerhorn 21-15, 15-21, 15-11.
Last year, Spieler and her cousin Torrey Van Winden advanced out of the qualifying round and finished in seventh place in beach volleyball’s marquee event.