Misty May-Treanor and longtime teammate Kerri Walsh accept their championship check after winning in Long Beach in 2008. Photo by Samuel Lippke
After a one-year absence, professional beach volleyball returns to Long Beach this weekend when the AVP rolls into town for the Long Beach Open to be held at Marina Green Park downtown along Shoreline Drive.
Best of all? This year, thanks to sponsor Malibu Rum, general admission is free! Courtside seats range between $25-40 and AVP Club seats fetch $60, but it’ll cost you nothing to get in and see the best athletes in the sport do battle under the sun. Get there early, as the stands will be packed. Saturday’s opening rounds begin at 9:00am until around 7:00pm, and the Sunday action starts at 8:30am with the men’s final at 1:00pm and the women’s final at 3:00pm.
It was here two years ago that the juggernaut duo of Kerri Walsh and Long Beach State alum Misty May-Treanor won their final tournament before heading to the Beijing Olympics, where they brought home the gold. May-Treanor returns to our fair city, where she still lives, as a teammate of Nicole Branagh. The pair have not been as dominant as the Walsh/May-Treanor team that is the winningest in the history of the sport, but they’ll be among the favorites this weekend.
On the men’s side, it’s the same old faces bringing the pain to the LBC this summer. Gold-medal winners in Beijing, the duo of Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers rides a 29-match winning streak into this weekend and will look for a little revenge after falling to arch-rivals Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal the last time in Long Beach. Rosenthal is a local from just up the road in Hermosa Beach and always attracts a strong following, so it will be a treat to see the world champions likely match up against their toughest competition with the hometown boy.
The tournament runs both Saturday and Sunday. You can also catch the action live on television, with the men’s final broadcast live at 1:00pm on ABC and the women’s final tape delayed at 8:00pm on ESPN2.
May-Treanor during a 2007 tournament in Huntington Beach. Photo by Ryan ZumMallen