Last week I mentioned how great the USA women's national team looks of late. I wrote about how they were strong and deep and maybe the best team we've ever put together. I predicted that they would do well in the Grand Prix final round, but would not get past Brazil due to their relative inexperience. Last Sunday, these women proved to be way ahead of schedule.

After a slow, Logan-less start in week one, Tom re-joined the squad and the U.S won 11 straight matches including a 5-0 run in the final round to win gold.  They beat Poland and eight-time champs Brazil in close five set matches and took care of China, Japan and Italy in three sets apiece. They racked up the post-tourney awards too - middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo won the MVP and Best Blocker awards and Alisha Glass was named Best Setter of the tournament.

As strong as I could tell they were last week, I was not expecting them to win this tournament. Having recently formed this latest incarnation of the national team, I figured they'd use this tournament to gain experience and work on the team cohesion they'll need in the coming years. They did that and much more in the last four weeks, coming along much more quickly than anyone could have expected.

The AVP may have collapsed and the summer may be coming to an end, but you still have a few chances to catch some beach volleyball.

On Saturday 8/28, the winners of the Barefoot Wine AVPNext Championship Cup will take on the Olympians in Milwaukee. The men's winner will take on Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser while the winning women's team will play Kerri Walsh and Rachel Wacholder.

The AVP tournament that was planned for Cincinnati will go on, put together by locals there on Labor Day Weekend. The Pro Beach Volleyball Players Championship will be held on Sept. 2-5th at Hahana Beach.

The Corona Light Wide Open Tour has one more stop this summer. The tourney with the old school rules will take place in Manhattan Beach on Sept. 24-26.

If you didn't hear the interview that Nick Lewin did on The Net Live this week, you have to take a listen. You won't believe it. The show is over two hours long, so I'll save you some time - jump to about 43 minutes into the show to hear Lewin's segment.

In the nearly 23-minute interview with Kevin Barnett and Chris McGee, Lewin of RJSM (the entity that owns the AVP property) managed to lose even more fans as he evaded questions, pleaded ignorance, blamed others and otherwise seemed completely disinterested in the fate of the AVP.

During the short interview, which is carried live over the web, Lewin showed unreal disrespect for his interviewers and the audience when he put them on hold not once, but twice. All Barnett could say was "Wow." That sentiment was shared by all who were listening in.

The USA women are starting to find their stride at the World Grand Prix. Since Logan Tom rejoined the squad last week, the team has won its last six matches and catapulted from fifth place to second in the standings behind Brazil.

With their 7-2 record, the USA women will be in the final round with Brazil, Poland, Japan, Italy and China. The matches have been airing on Universal Sports and if you haven't had a chance to check out this team, you should make some time.

In my opinion, this is the best all-around team the women have fielded in years. Maybe ever. They are strong at every position and they are deep. This Grand Prix team is young but they are overflowing with talent. In only a few weeks they have managed to turn into a much more cohesive unit than I was expecting at this point and it bodes well for the next two years.

Their youth means that they're widely inexperienced internationally and they have a ways to go before they're ready for London. They'll get a much-needed test in this final round. Beating Brazil would be quite a feat at this point but regardless of the outcome, the match experience they'll gain here will be pivotal.

It is early yet, but mark my words -  this team has a legit shot at a gold medal in 2012.