PHOENIX SUNS

Former Wildcat, Sun Chase Budinger drops to 1-1 in volleyball at Olympics

Jul 30, 2024, 7:47 PM

Chase Budinger of Team United States attacks the net against Stefan Boermans of Team Netherlands du...

Chase Budinger of Team United States attacks the net against Stefan Boermans of Team Netherlands during the Men's Preliminary Phase - Pool F match on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Eiffel Tower Stadium on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

(Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

The crazy story of former Arizona Wildcat, first-round NBA Draft pick and Phoenix Sun Chase Budinger becoming a Team USA Olympic beach volleyball star was going to come with some bumps in the road and the first came on Tuesday with a loss to the Netherlands.

Budinger and his teammate Miles Evans lost 2-0 (21-13, 21-15) to Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot, dropping the duo’s record to 1-1 in pool play.

The Americans will play their final match of pool play on Friday against Spain’s Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera. In Group F, that Netherlands pair is 2-0 while Spain and Team USA each sport a 1-1 record. The top two teams in each group automatically advance, a crucial fate to seal. While the top two third-place teams also move on to the bracket and the rest of the third-place group finishers have a chance to as well, the winner on Friday won’t have to stress about that.

From there, the competition is a single-elimination bracket of 16 teams. That would be a big accomplishment for Budinger and Evans, who were among the biggest underdogs to win the tournament out of the field of 24.

Friday’s match is at 6 a.m. MST and can be streamed on Peacock.

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Former Wildcat, Sun Chase Budinger drops to 1-1 in volleyball at Olympics