As a pro beach volleyball player, Santa Barbara’s Miles Evans has played on sand volleyball courts all over the world and competed in prestigious events like the Manhattan Beach Open.
But for the Dos Pueblos High, SBCC and UC Santa Barbara alum, nothing can compare to playing in the Olympics beach volleyball tournament next to the Eiffel Tower.
The Olympics debut of Evans and former NBA player Chase Budinger came to an end in Paris on Monday as the pair was defeated by defending gold medalists Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway in the Round of 16 (21-16, 21-14).
Evans and Budinger, who joined forces to make a run at the Olympics in late 2022 and secured qualification for the second U.S. berth less than two months before the Games, finished their special moments at the incredibly picturesque venue with a record of 2-3.
After Monday’s loss against the gold-medal favorites, Evans and Budinger stood together on the sand to soak in the unforgettable panorama one last time.
“We took a moment before we had to head out, just, ‘Let’s look at this one more time. We’re not going to see this again,'” Evans told the media after the match.
“We’ve been hyping this up for so long, and it definitely exceeded expectations. This is by far the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life. I hope that we can make the 2028 Olympics and see what that’s all about. But this will always be one of the best memories of my life.”
Budinger added that representing the U.S. in the Olympics and playing at the Eiffel Tower Stadium “will definitely be up there with some of my greatest basketball moments, for sure. “Playing underneath the lights, underneath the Eiffel Tower, which was sparkling — you can’t replicate these type of memories that we’ll have.”
Evans became the fourth Santa Barbara home-grown beach volleyball player to play in the Olympic Games, joining Karch Kiraly (gold-medal winner in 1996) and San Marcos alums Dax Holdren (fifth place in 2004) and Rogers (gold in 2008 and ninth place in 2012)
The community also has been represented by UCSB’s Eric Fonoimoana, a gold medalist in 2000, and Rob Heidger, who finished ninth in those games.
Evans/Budinger kept things close in the first set with some scrappy play. Evans delivered a kill to tie the score at 11-11.
The Norwegians, who have played together since 2016, then took control. Sorum sided out and Mol blocked consecutive attacks to put them in the lead for good and they expanded the lead to 18-13 with another three-point run on a Sorum kill and two Mol blocks.
In the second set, Evans/Budinger scored consecutive points to take a 3-1. But Mol/Sorum answered with four straight points and never trailed again.
In another Round of 16 match, Americans Miles Partain and Andy Benesh turned in strong performance and beat Italy’s Sam Cottafava/Paolo Nicolai, 21-17, 21-18, to advance to the quarterfinals.
Partain is the son of former Westmont College basketball standout Peter Partain, who played for the Warriors from 1989-92
