We have an Alix Klineman update, sort of, but first …
It wasn’t difficult to see why Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, and Sophie Bukovec and Sarah Pavan, immediately took to social media to celebrate what was then the best of Christmas presents: Wild cards into the season-ending Volleyball World Pro Beach Tour Finals in Doha, Qatar.
They were given an opportunity to play in one of the most exclusive events on the Beach Pro Tour calendar, with just a 10-team field and four guaranteed matches. They were gifted the perfect tune-up for the onset of Olympic qualifying, which begins the weekend following World Tour Finals, ironing out any kinks in their new chemistry in a risk-free setting — there are no points on the line, and therefore no points to lose, in the World Tour Finals.
They were also, of course, given the shot to compete for $150,000.
That’s not the total purse, nor is that a typo: $150,000 is the prize given to the gold medalists this weekend in Doha.
Prize money has been a common gripe amongst players on the Beach Pro Tour. But that will not be a gripe this weekend, where 20 teams will compete for a grand total of $800,000 in prize money. Even the teams finishing last will pocket nearly $8,000, roughly the equivalent of winning a silver medal in a Challenge, as Italians and men’s wild cards Adrian Carambula and Alex Ranghieri did in Torquay, Australia in November.
“This is the culmination of an incredibly competitive year on the sand around the world and one look at the teams involved shows just how exciting and competitive the first ever Beach Pro Tour Finals is going to be,” Volleyball World CEO Finn Taylor said. “With Olympic champions, world champions, in-form teams and new and returning partnerships taking to the sand, we have an event that promises to be packed with intriguing stories from the best teams in the world.
“We are looking forward to receiving a wonderful welcome from our hosts at the magnificent Aspire Park in Doha, and are grateful to our partners at the Qatar Volleyball Association and Aspire Zone.”
Cheng and Hughes, and Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, are the only Americans in the field. Doha will provide the first look at the new team of Pavan and Bukovec, who formed after Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, both former partners of Pavan and Bukovec, became a team.
You can watch all of the matches on Volleyball TV.
Alix Klineman announced some big news earlier on Monday morning. Far too big for a simple Beach Digest item. We’ll have a full story soon.
The field for the season-opening Doha Elite 16, which follows the World Tour Finals and begins February 1, is constantly shifting. Americans Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner, who were seeded fourth in the qualifier, and Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles, who were directly into the main draw, have both dropped out of the Elite 16. This made for some excellent news for Tim Brewster and Kyle Friend, who slipped into the qualifier and are now seeded No. 15, in front of Canadians Jake MacNeil and Alex Russell. Friend is racking up the frequent flier miles early in 2023, as he only just returned from the King of the Court in Doha, where he finished fifth with Troy Field, barely one week ago.
Little else has changed on the women’s side, where Savvy Simo and Toni Rodriguez are still No. 2 on the reserve list.
There are few sports where the cliche of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” has more relevance than in beach volleyball. Paul Lotman has taken the saying to heart, joining forces with Silila Tucker, the 2022 Eric Zaun Award winner and a defender who had beaten Lotman in their previous three meetings.
Lotman enjoyed a breakout year in 2022, winning his first AVP, in Atlanta with Miles Partain, and then nearly won the season-ending Phoenix Gold Series Championship. He received a last-minute call from Taylor Crabb to compete in back-to-back Challenge events in Dubai in the fall, and after finishing fifth and third, respectively, he added another top-five with a fourth in the Torquay Elite 16 with Miles Evans. All of those finishes vaulted Lotman, who led the AVP in total blocks in 2022 — earning the nickname Paul Blockman — onto the USA National Team, where he’ll use those points to carry Tucker into Challenge events to begin the season.
Tucker had a bit of a breakthrough himself in 2022, quadrupling his previous high in prize money, winning the Laguna Open with Andy Benesh, where he beat Lotman and Troy Field in the finals.
A week ago, it was Idaho who was adding beach volleyball. Now the Sun Belt has grabbed onto the fastest-growing sport in NCAA history, adding beach volleyball as its 19th sponsored sport.
Four Sun Belt Conference institutions currently sponsor Beach Volleyball — Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, ULM and Southern Miss. In addition, the Sun Belt will welcome affiliate members College of Charleston, Mercer, Stephen F. Austin and UNCW to form the eight-team league. Georgia State is a two-time NCAA Championship participant (2016, 2022) and advanced to the round of six last season.
“We are pleased and excited to welcome Beach Volleyball as our 19th championship sport,” Sun Belt commissioner Keith Gill said. “As the fastest growing collegiate sport, particularly within the footprint of the Sun Belt, it is a perfect fit for our conference. We’re looking forward to providing an elite competitive and championship environment for the student-athletes, coaches and fans of Sun Belt Beach Volleyball.”
The Swoosh will now be a regular feature in American beach volleyball. Kelly Cheng and Sarah Hughes, the No. 1 team in the USA, have both inked contracts with the sporting-goods giant. Hughes has been a longtime Nike athlete, signing almost immediately after graduating from USC, while Cheng was briefly with Adidas during her run with Sarah Sponcil.
This past September, the brotherly duo of Taylor and Brenden Sander drew no small amount of eyeballs when they teamed to take a fifth at the Laguna Open, upending a number of accomplished AVP players in the process — Seain Cook and David Lee, Evan Cory and Logan Webber, to name a few. With Brenden, the younger of the two, putting in regular time with the USA Volleyball developmental group, many wondered if he would be transferring to the beach, as older brother Taylor did.
Not yet.
Last week, Brenden, a former standout at BYU, signed with Panathinaikos Athens to play outside hitter.
I made a deal with LT Treumann, a proud father and an excellent beach volleyball coach who oversees B Volley in St. Petersburg, Florida: When his daughter, Thais, won an open, with a solid field consisting of professionals, then, and only then, would she get a write-up. That day came on Saturday, when Treumann, an eighth grader at the age of 14 years and one month, and Lydia Smith, won a SSOVA event, beating Aurora Davis and Bree Scarbrough in the finals.
The field included USC recruit Ashley Pater and UCLA recruit Kennedy Coakley, who finished third, as did Violet Slabakova and Regan McGuire. Treumann, it should be noted, has received interest, according to her father, from all of the aforementioned schools, among several others.
Treumann, however, is not the youngest to win an open. Sarah Wood, a 14-year-old from Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, is the youngest I could find. She won an open at Highline Arena in New Jersey on December 19, 2020 — when she was just 12 years and seven months. Earlier this year, Wood became the youngest player to qualify for an AVP, when she and Ashley McGinn qualified for the Muskegon Tour Series when Wood was just 14 years, one month and 16 days. She snapped the record by more than two years.
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Serve one of these casseroles as your meatless main for dinner tonight. With only three steps or less, these vegetarian dishes are easy to make. Recipes like our Cheesy Sweet Potato & Black Bean Casserole and Broccoli & Quinoa Casserole are delicious and satisfying choices for dinner.
A cozy, cheesy casserole is classic comfort food. We amped up the nutrition by including plenty of nourishing veggies. Black beans provide powerful plant-based protein while the sweet potatoes offer up a healthy dose of vitamin A, an antioxidant important for vision and immunity.
This easy egg casserole is filled with spring green vegetables and rustic whole-grain bread. It's perfect for a healthy vegetarian dinner or a springtime brunch. You can assemble it the night before and bake it in the morning when you're ready.
This broccoli-quinoa casserole makes a hearty vegetarian main dish. As the quinoa absorbs water and cooks, it creates the perfect amount of steam for cooking the broccoli. The broccoli is crisp-tender and adds texture to contrast with the creamy, cheesy quinoa. Swap in tricolor quinoa, if you prefer.
Tomatoes and briny feta cheese form the base of the sauce that coats the pasta in this easy one-pan meal. Enjoy on its own as a vegetarian dinner or top with grilled chicken for some extra protein.
This cauliflower casserole is inspired by nachos and stuffed with tender roasted cauliflower, sweet red pepper and brown rice. Salsa helps bind the ingredients together, along with melted cheese. Crushed tortilla chips on top add crunch. Serve with the suggested garnishes, or add your own favorite toppings to complete the dish.
This one-pan recipe is the casserole version of spanakopita! It's hearty enough to enjoy as a vegetarian lunch or dinner, yet versatile enough to serve alongside just about any protein. To make it extra creamy, top each serving with a dollop of sour cream.
Think of this vegetarian enchilada casserole as a veggie-packed Mexican-inspired lasagna with corn tortillas standing in for the noodles! If your peppers are mild and you like heat, opt for spicy pico de gallo. This easy vegetarian dinner recipe is sure to become a new family favorite.
This is the macaroni and cheese recipe that would have been made in the kitchens at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Jefferson first became familiar the creamy, cheesy baked dish of macaroni from his time in Paris and it was enslaved cooks, James Hemings, Peter Hemings, Edith Hern Fossett and Frances Gillette Hern, who prepared this favorite dish over the years. The popularization of this iconic American dish can be traced to Black cooks, like Peter Fossett (the freed son of Edith Hern Fossett), Rufus Estes and Freda De Knight, who helped spread the dish throughout the United States. Learn more about 
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He owned and operated Jay Bee Radio on Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia for 34 years and served as a church leader at Unity Temple Worship Center and Restoration Station Christian Fellowship.
Leonard M. Minus, 75, of Philadelphia, prominent business owner for more than three decades, church leader, teacher, and mentor, died Monday, Dec. 12, of pulmonary hypertension and heart failure at Lankenau Medical Center.
The owner and operator of Jay Bee Radio on Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia from 1985 to 2019, Mr. Minus, affectionately called JayBee by friends and fellow business owners, was a mainstay on the busy 4400 block of Lancaster Avenue. He not only sold, installed, and repaired TVs, sound systems, car radios, computers, and other electronics for 34 years, he collaborated with other entrepreneurs regarding neighborhood development and employed many young people in the city’s summer work program.
His affable personality, open-door policy regarding business opportunities, and dedication to his church and community made him popular in whichever circle he was moving. “I’ll always hold onto those conversations you would have with me about life and love,” a friend said in a Facebook tribute.
He advocated integrity and personal independence, and his motto was: “Be your own boss, and you can make your own rules.” His daughter Arlene Minus-Johnson said: “He wanted people to figure things out for themselves. Get a book. Go online. Do it yourself.”
Mr. Minus first worked for Jack Broad, the founder of Jay Bee Radio, as an 18-year-old in 1965. He bought the business when Broad retired in 1985 and later purchased two more properties on the block that operated over the years as a restaurant, water ice store, gift shop, computer store, and other enterprises.
Drawn to young people and anyone who wanted to improve, he also worked as a computer and electronics instructor at Lincoln Technical Institute and elsewhere. “He encouraged everyone to be at the table and be a leader,” said his daughter Tracy Wilcox. “He was a problem solver who also wanted to make it happen for someone else.”
Minus-Johnson said: “He wanted to impart the importance of working hard.”
Mr. Minus joined Unity Temple Worship Center in 1993 and served as deacon, trustee, and on the board of directors. He became a member of Restoration Station Christian Fellowship in 2011 and was a deacon and building manager, and involved with several committees and the youth fellowship.
“Plain and simple, Deacon Minus was one of a kind,” one of his pastors at Restoration Station said in a tribute. Another pastor said: “You were so humble, hardworking, and willing to show up. … You had so much wisdom and advice for me, and I appreciate the small talk and the laughs.”
Born March 5, 1947, Leonard Monroe Minus grew up in North Philadelphia and graduated from Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School. He later earned an associate degree at Community College of Philadelphia and a bachelor’s degree in business management from Temple University’s night school.
He grew up next door to Doris Louis, and they married in 1965, lived in West Oak Lane, and had daughters Arlene and Tracy and son Leonard II. He also had son Keith Thompson.
A tireless volunteer, Mr. Minus served holiday meals at local nursing homes and directed Easter egg hunts and other activities for neighborhood children. He liked to host big dinners on Thanksgiving, and his family always expected something to be overcooked as he tended to doze off during preparations before they arrived.
He was a championship bowler and longtime member of a citizens band radio club. He liked jazz music and line dancing, traveled nearly every year to visit family in North Carolina and South Carolina, and enjoyed getaway trips to Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
He was robbed and shot at his store in 1997 but refused to abandon his customers and fellow business owners. He finally retired and sold his properties in 2019. In a tribute, his family said: “Leonard always imparted life lessons to all he met.”
In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Minus is survived by eight grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, three brothers, a sister, and other relatives. Three brothers and a sister died earlier.
A celebration of his life was held Dec. 21.
Donations in his name may be made to 
Douglas County’s Commissioner of Dirt, Mike Winters, has our weekly local lawn and garden program. Click here to download for later listening: 
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Like many PC gamers, I’ve been waiting a long time to build my next gaming PC. 
