Huntington Beach US Open Volleyball Had a Little Rain,
But Many Wins
Huntington Beach, Calif. U.S. Open of Beach
Volleyball Open Division Held in September
Although a cloud or two broke
loose and rained Saturday on the the U.S. Open of Beach
Volleyball, the sun returned to the sands of Huntington
Beach for some victory plays and cash prizes. Huntington
Beach features a volleyball area with many sand courts
but is by no means the only "game in town" when it comes
to beach
Sand Volleyball in California.
U.S. Open
of Beach Volleyball presented by Corona started with
Open Division pool play for both the men’s and women’s
category at
Huntington Beach Pier in Huntington Beach,
California.
Huntington Beach has
been one of the stop on the Association of Volleyball
Professions tour each year. In recent years the event
threatened to leave the beaches of Huntington Beach for
other destinations because the event cannot be billed as
a tickets-only event, due to coastal regulations about
public beach access. Problems were ironed out as
AVP Pro Tour took on new cities such as Tampa, and
grew their advertising support in such destinations
where the event is held in an arena.
The top two teams from each men’s pool Friday advanced
to Saturday’s elimination round, while the top three
teams from each women’s pool advanced. Below are the
teams advancing:
Men’s Open Division
1st in Pool 1: Michael Bruning (San Diego, Calif.)/Pepe
Delahaz (San Diego, Calif.)
1st in Pool 2: Anthony Mihalic (Hermosa Beach,
Calif.)/Art Barron (Ventura, Calif.)
1st in Pool 3: Tyler Lesneski (N. Palm Beach, Fla.)/Jeff
Soler (Beyton Beach, Fla.)
1st in Pool 4: Marcos Macau (Coral Gables, Fla.)/Adrian
Carambula (Coral Gables, Fla.)
1st in Pool 5: Brian Chapman (Portland, Ore.)/Denis
Zukoh (Portland, Ore.)
2nd in Pool 5: Russ Marchewka (Costa Mesa, Calif.)/David
Fischer (Venice, Calif.)
2nd in Pool 4: Everett Matthews (Burbank, Calif.)/Tony
Pray (Burbank, Calif.)
2nd in Pool 3: Jeff Carlucci (Torrance, Calif.)/Ty
Tramblie (Newport Beach, Calif.)
2nd in Pool 2: Lucas Wisniakowski (El Segundo,
Calif.)/Austin Rester (El Segundo, Calif.)
2nd in Pool 1: Leonardo Moraes (San Diego, Calif.)/Vince
Robins (San Diego, Calif.)
Women’s Open Division
1st in Pool 1: Lenka Urbanova (Aliso Viejo,
Calif.)/Gabriela Roney (Orange, Calif.)
2nd in Pool 1: Jenelle Koester (Redondo Beach,
Calif.)/Janelle Ruen (Newport Beach, Calif.)
1st in Pool 2: Iwona Lodzik (Prospect Heights,
Ill.)/Aleksandra Wolak (Prospect Heights, Ill.)
2nd in Pool 3: Tarin Keith (Santa Ana, Calif.)/Kathrin
Winkler (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
2nd in Pool 2: Kelly Hickam (Redondo Beach,
Calif.)/Gretchen Duffner (Hermosa Beach, Calif.)
3rd in Pool 1: Lindsay Phillips (Huntington Beach,
Calif.)/Jen Snyder (Long Beach, Calif.)
1st in Pool 3: Pat Keller (Cardiff, Calif.)/Valinda
Roche (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
3rd in Pool 2: Chara Harris (Sarasota, Fla.)/Brooke
Langston (Sarasota, Fla.)
3rd in Pool 3: Cindy Phillips (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)/Shayna
Munson (Pompano Beach, Fla.)
Playing together in a tournament for the first time,
Jeff Carlucci of Torrance and Ty Tramblie of Newport
Beach teamed up to win the men’s open division
championship at the inaugural U.S. Open of Beach
Volleyball on Saturday in Huntington Beach.
Carlucci and Tramblie had advanced from Friday’s pool
play as the No. 8-seeded team and took out top-seeded
Michael Bruning and Pepe Delahaz (both from San Diego)
in the quarterfinals, 19-21, 21-14, 15-8.
Tramblie's athleticism helped the duo oust fourth-seeded
Adrian Carambula and Marcos Macau, 17-21, 23-21, 18-16,
in a hard-fought semifinal.
Keller and Roche came to the event to play in the
women’s masters draw, but found themselves in the open
division and were glad they did. Starting Saturday as
the No. 7-seeded team, they took out the No. 2 seeds,
Jenelle Koester and Janelle Ruen in the quarterfinals,
before eliminating Iwona Lodzik and Aleksandra Wolak,
24-22, 21-17, in the semifinals.
Keith and Winkler navigated a challenging road to the
championship match. They fought off three match points
in their match against the hard-charging Florida duo of
Chara Harris and Brooke Langston in the semifinals,
finally advancing to the final with a 16-21, 25-23,
15-13 win.
Hermosa Beach residents Dustin Russell and Martusz
Stolarczyk defeated the Huntington Beach duo of Tyson
Elliott and Sergei Sychev, 25-21, to win the Men’s B
Division title.
Saturday’s play included competition in several other
men’s and women’s divisions. Play concludes today with
the co-ed two-person and four-person events.
Hosted by volleyball legend Karch Kiraly, the U.S. Open
of Beach Volleyball is the first national championship
for open and grassroots beach volleyball players.
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