Beach Bits:
• Schalk had never finished higher than 17th in his first 17 FIVB World Tour events, but in his 18th he and Ben Saxton placed fifth in the 2013 World Championships in Poland, securing the highest ever finish for a men's team from Canada in a World Championship.
• In New York 2017 Schalk and Ricardo Santos finished third, becoming the lowest seeded qualifier team (35th) to ever reach an AVP semifinal.
• Entering the 2023 season, Schalk has advanced to the semifinals in 12 of his last 16 AVP tournaments.
2022: Schalk and Theo Brunner played in eight AVP tournaments, winning once, finishing second three times and placing third twice. On the World Beach Pro Tour the duo played six times with a best finish of fourth in the World Championships in Rome.
2021: Schalk and Theo Brunner played in all three AVP events, finishing second, third and seventh. Schalk was third on the Tour in hitting percentage (.458) and fourth in digs (4.41 per set). Internationally Schalk and Brunner played nine times, winning a gold in Rwanda.
2020: Schalk and Chase Budinger played in the three AVP tournaments in Long Beach, finishing third twice. Schalk was third in kills (7.78 per set), fourth in hitting percentage (.425) and sixth in digs (4.59 per set). Schalk competed internationally for the first time as an American, losing in the country quota with Budinger.
2019: Schalk formed a partnership with Jeremy Casebeer and played in eight AVP tournaments. The pair advanced to the semifinals four times, and won in Seattle.
2018: Schalk and Ricardo had a pair of ninths in their two AVP events. Schalk then finished the year with five AVP tournaments alongside Tim Bomgren, with a third and second place finish. He ended the year ranked second on the Tour in kills (7.13 per set) and 10th in digs (3.97 per set).
2017: Schalk began playing on the AVP Tour for the first time and was eliminated in the qualifier in his debut alongside Reid Priddy. He played the next two events with Ricardo Santos, advancing from the qualifier both times and placing third and seventh. Schalk partnered with Marty Lorenz for two AVP events with a best of ninth. Schalk and Saxton played seven FIVB events together, with their best finishes coming in their last two, a fifth in both the World Championships in Vienna and the World Tour Finals in Hamburg.
2016: Schalk and Saxton played in 15 international tournaments, winning a bronze medal in Croatia and Klagenfurt, and placing fourth in Toronto. The duo went undefeated in pool play in six of their tournaments. The duo was the 16th-seeded team in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and finished in ninth place.
2015: Schalk and Saxton competed 11 times on the FIVB Tour. They won a silver and a bronze in Grand Slam events in Japan and Poland. On the season they had four wins over teams seeded third or better.
2014: Schalk and Saxton played in 11 FIVB tournaments, getting their best finishes in the last two tournaments, a fifth in Brazil and a bronze medal in Argentina.
2013: Schalk formed a partnership with Ben Saxton. In the duo's first five FIVB events, they had a best of 17th twice. Then in the World Championships in Poland, the pair had a fifth-place finish which was the highest ever by a team from Canada.
2012: Schalk and Matt Zbyszewski played in two FIVB qualifiers but did not advance to the main draw in either.
2011: Schalk and Reader played in four FIVB tournaments with a best of 25th. Schalk played once with Steve Marshall, losing in the qualifier.
2010: Schalk played on the FIVB Tour for Canada with Martin Reader. The pair played in five tournaments, advancing from the qualifier in the fifth one. Their first main draw match came against a pair of Olympic medalists, Brazil's Marcia Araujo and Ricardo Santos.
Olympics (one, 9th, 1-2 Pool, 1-0 Lucky Losers, 0-1 Elimination, 2-3 Overall):
• Qualified with Ben Saxton in the 2020 Rio de Janeiro Olympics as the 16th seed. The duo went 1-2 in pool play and won the Lucky Loser match. They were eliminated by the eventual bronze medalists, The Netherland's Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen, finishing in 9th place.
Personal: Schalk grew up with four brothers, and his father built a beach volleyball court in his backyard. Schalk won two National Championships indoors at Red Deer College and was an All-Canadian setter at Trinity Western University. Schalk had dual citizenship (Canada and USA) from birth. He married fellow pro beach volleyball player Lane Carico on December 31, 2015, and they have a daughter, Koa.
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