As I walked up to the tournament site on Friday, I couldn't help but wonder how exactly I would describe the event location for the 2009 "San Diego Open". Fact of the matter, when you watch the video, you'll ask yourself the same question I did: why is the tournament being held on an Indian reservation 50 miles east of the beautiful San Diego coast line? One reason: $$$! It is speculated that Harrah's Rincon Casino and Resort paid the AVP around $100,000 to host the event; therefore, I can't blame the AVP for taking the payout as the tour drives towards greater profitability. All things considered, the site was really cool. It is just too bad more fans weren't there to find out.
So the results are in and here's what's mild, medium, and HOT...and what simply has no sauce at all:
HOT - John Mayer/Jeff Nygaard. Not only did this team win their first title together, it was the teams they beat to do it. First, they knocked off the Olympic gold medalists Dalhausser/Rogers. Then, in a rather routine final, they beat the number 2 seed and #2 US Olympic team of Rosenthal/Gibb. It was the combination of Nygaard's timely blocks and Mayer's plethora of digs, 76 to be exact, that propelled them to their first title. Couldn't 't have happened for two nicer guys.
HOT - Nicole Branagh/Elaine Youngs. Three tournaments, three victories. Enough said. The best team on the women's side hands down.
No Sauce - Jenny Kropp/Holly McPeak & Russ Marchewka/Albert Hanneman. Kropp/McPeak continue to struggle as they finished 9th. As of press time, Holly McPeak announced her retirement. While I accept the AVP's announcement, I'm not convinced Holly is done. In fact, I saw her just a day ago doing her patented pier-to-pier run between Hermosa and Manhattan in the deep sand! I hope this is not the last we have seen of her. On the other hand, we have definitely seen the last of Hanneman/Marchewka. For a third consecutive tournament, they failed to win a match and both player's point totals have plummeted.
HOT - Brooke Hanson/Lisa Rutledge. I wrote about this team in my San Diego recap and spoke highly of them in my San Diego preview. Boy, did they show up BIG! They made it to their first final and had a great all around tournament. No other team is getting more digs and blocks than them right now, and if their side out game gets more consistent, we will be seeing them in a lot more finals. and what else would you expect from a fellow Arizona Wildcat in Rutledge!
Mild - Turner/Akers. I predicted the top four seeds would advance to the final four on the women's side and I would have been right if not for this disappointing finish. While Akers had a solid all-around tournament recording 39 digs, hitting (.485, 6th best), and recording 5 aces, Turner was off. Nobody had a better stat line in Riverside than Turner, but it wasn't there this tourney. It seems like when one player is on, the other is a bit off. Look for them to steady out in Houston.
Medium - Brad Keenan/Nick Lucena. In one of the most entertaining matches of the weekend, old partners squared off against one another when this team played against John Hyden/Sean Scott. There was plenty of talking and lots of fire, with the match ending after Nick Lucena punted a ball, walked under the net to shake hands, and forfeited the final 2 points! But with all that, Keenan/Lucena are getting better and teams know it. They finished 5th and their international experience will continue to build as they skip the Houston Open to play in the FIVB tourney in Rome.
No Sauce - Paying players to play so guys that would otherwise not be in the main draw get into the event. By all accounts, there were at least 4 teams (and two more rumored), where a player compensated another player with more points in order to get into the main draw. I am going to save my thoughts for another post, but what I will say is that this practice is keeping more talented players out of the tour and effecting the product at the events. While these teams are improving, it undermines the integrity of the sport.
Yours truly? Well, at the end of Friday I was the fourth highest side out player in the event. After the final ball hit the sand Sunday I was in the bottom 5! I played my worst match in over a year Saturday morning and cost Adam and I a chance to play for 7th. Instead, we took another 13th. Since it was so tragic I am not going to go any further. Instead, check out some video from a better match and stay tuned for my Houston preview!
Thank you to my sponsors for your continued support and we'll see you on the beach!
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