Third straight AVP Tour title for Ross-Walsh Jennings
The Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Salt Lake City Open women’s tournament had the same ending as the first two stops of the 2014 AVP tour: a victory for the top-rated team of U.S. Olympians April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings.
Ross (Costa Mesa) and Walsh Jennings (Manhattan Beach) won their third tour title by sweeping the No. 2-seeded team of Brooke Sweat (Costa Mesa) and Lauren Fendrick (Hermosa Beach), 21-16, 21-15, in the final Sunday.
Ross and Walsh Jennings previously won tournament titles at the Milwaukee Open in July and the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Open in June.
Ross and Walsh Jennings earned $15,000 and 750 points for their tourney win.
For the second-straight tournament, Whitney Pavlik of Laguna Beach was part of a team that tied for third-place.
Pavlik and teammate Heather Hughes (Redondo Beach), seeded sixth for the tournament, made their way to the semifinals where they were eliminated from title contention by Sweat/Fendrick, 21-13, 18-21, 15-9.
Pavlik was teamed with Jennifer Fopma (Bellflower) for the first two tour events. The pair reached the semifinals of the Milwaukee Open and finished in a third-place tie. At the St. Petersburg Open, Pavlik and Fopma tied for seventh.
The No. 3-seeded team of Summer Ross of Huntington Beach and Emily Day (Hermosa Beach) finished equal-third with Pavlik/Hughes. Ross and Day reached the semifinals where they were defeated, 21-14, 21-17 by Ross and Walsh Jennings.
Men’s tournament
The championship match of the Salt Lake City Open men’s tournament
went to the No. 2-seeded team of Casey Patterson of Huntington Beach and teammate Jake Gibb of Costa Mesa.
The duo rallied from a set down to knock off the fourth-seeded team of Ryan Doherty (Fountain Valley) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) in an exciting final, 17-21, 21-17 17-15.
It was the first win on the 2014 tour for Patterson and Gibb who, at the first two tour events of the season, finished runner-up to the title at the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Open, and tied for third at the Milwaukee Open.
Patterson and Gibb also earned $15,000 and 750 points by winning the tournament.
Manhattan Beach Open next
The next stop on the 2014 AVP tour is the Manhattan Beach Open. The prestigious tournament started Thursday and runs through Sunday.
The event, now in its 55th year, is the longest running, continuous tournament in the sport of beach volleyball.
The remaining AVP tour stops of the season are the Cincinnati Open (Aug. 28-31), Atlantic City (N.J.) Open (Sept. 5-7) and the AVP Championships (Sept. 18-21) at the Huntington Beach Pier.