Hawaii’s Tri Bourne continues to aim high

Tri Bourne continues to have high aspirations for his decade-long pro beach volleyball playing career.

Bourne joined the AVP in 2013 after wrapping up his collegiate career at USC and earned Rookie of the Year honors that year.

Ten years later, Bourne continues to be an AVP mainstay and competed in his first Summer Olympic Games in 2021. At 33, Bourne still has his sights set on the 2024 Games in Paris.

“I’ve surprised myself so many times now that I’m just like, screw it, let’s set the bar super high and let’s just see what’s possible,” said Bourne, a 2006 Academy of the Pacific alumnus. “At this point, the next logical step for me is not only qualifying for the Olympics, but to go see if I can win a gold. I went there last time to fill in for Taylor (Crabb), which was a crazy opportunity, but I got to see what I was capable of on that stage, and I felt real comfortable. So if I could get myself to Paris, you never know. I might be bringing home a gold for Hawaii and USA.

“We know it’s our job to leave it on the court, to really go at each other as well and just compete to the best of our abilities. That’s part of the entertainment value. And if you were to ask the fans, we’d probably be the top three guys in terms of really just entertainment value and leaving our raw personalities out there on the court. I think we all just take a lot of pride in that. We’re all trying to grow the sport and we have a lot of passion for it. Obviously a ton of pride being from Hawaii.”