Pro Beach Volleyball Sand Slam, featuring AVP athletes Jade Race, Lydia Smith, Brittany Tiegs, and Ty Tramblie, will be touring with Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) this September. The tour, which will perform at bases across Southwest Asia and the Western Hemisphere, will feature nine tour dates from September 11-28.
Jade Race didn’t play volleyball until taking up beach volleyball in 2018. Athletics run in her family – her mother was a dancer, and her father played football. A natural athlete, she was able to pick up volleyball quickly and excel in it. She joined the AVP in 2019 and competed internationally in the FIVB the same year. In 2021, Race placed in the Top-20 twice in the FIVB.
Race was able to improve on this the following year in 2022, where she again competed in the AVP and finished 5th in an appearance in the FIVB. Race continues to compete at a high level and is currently playing in the AVP.
Lydia Smith played college volleyball at Cape Fear College before transferring to Liberty University to play for the Flames. As a college athlete, Smith was named a Region 10 All-Region selection. She played on both the indoor and beach team for Liberty.
As a professional, Smith has played on the AVP since 2019 and has also played on the FIVB since 2022. During the AVP 2023 season, Smith has three top ten finishes in 5 tournaments. Smith’s partners include Jade Race, Iya Lindahl and Madison Shields.
Brittany Tiegs played on the Florida State University beach volleyball team and was named to the All-American team in 2012. She transferred to the University of Hawaii at Manoa where she was a two-time All-American. Representing the USA in 2014, she won the Gold Medal at the World University Championships in Porto, Portugal.
After graduation, she played one season of professional indoor volleyball in the Maldives. In 2016, Brittany began playing professionally on the Australia National Beach Tour; she remains a playing professional with the AVP.
Ty Tramblie began his collegiate volleyball career at Cal State Northridge as their setter. He recorded the fourth-most assists in school history, which earned him all-MPSF honors for 3 seasons, and was a second team All American as a senior in 2004. In 2003, Tramblie began playing in AVP Qualifiers. In 2006, Tramblie joined Tyler Hildebrand, and the pair advanced to the main draw. In 2008, Ty teamed with Mike Morrison earning a best of fifth on the AVP circuit, at the time a career-best for both.
2011 proved to be a great year for Ty, after playing 8 domestic events on 3 different tours, with a best of second. After the 2014 season and 7 AVP events, he ended the season ranked eighth in kills per set and 10th in digs. In 2016, Tramblie advanced to his first two career AVP semifinals, winning once in Chicago. Entering the 2016 season, three of Tramblie’s four best AVP career finishes have come in his last 8 events, with those 3 coming with 3 different partners.
AFE has been committed to boosting the morale and well-being of service members and their families stationed overseas through world-class live events and performances since 1951.
