Stevenson, Steffes Take Direct Route to Volleyball Title

Youth was served Sunday at the Seal Beach Open.

Served, but not blocked.

Jon Stevenson and Kent Steffes, relative youngsters on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour, walked away with the championship for the first time this season.

Stevenson, 26, and Steffes, 21, survived the winners’ bracket, then overpowered an overworked Jay Hanseth and Leif Hanson, 15-9, in the final.

“It’s good to get some new faces in there,” Steffes said.

Steffes said he might have been the youngest person to win a pro volleyball tournament since Sinjin Smith 10 years ago.

Smith, now 31, and Randy Stoklos were the top-seeded team in the tournament. However, they were sent packing to the losers’ bracket early in the day with a 15-12 loss to Stevenson and Steffes.

Mike Dodd and Tim Hovland, the second-seeded team, also were in the losers’ bracket after losing to Hanseth and Hanson, 15-6, on Saturday.

In all, the Smith-Stoklos and Dodd-Hovland alliances had won 16 of the previous 20 tournaments. But neither could manage to get back into the final.

“We suddenly realized there were no seeded teams left in the winners’ bracket and we started thinking we could win it,” Steffes said.

After working through the winners’ bracket, Stevenson and Steffes were rewarded with a two-hour break. While the other teams competed in the sun for the right to play in the final, they sat in the shade conserving energy.

“They were all out there groveling in the losers’ bracket and we were in the tent relaxing,” Steffes said. “We knew that was going to make a big difference.”

At the Rochester Open on July 30, it was Stevenson and Steffes who had to work to reach the final. They worked themselves out of the losers’ bracket only to lose to Dodd and Hovland.

This time, though, Stevenson and Steffes were rested for the final.

Hanson and Hanseth had three grueling matches in the losers’ bracket, including a second victory over Dodd and Hovland (15-7). When it came time for the final, they were worn out.

“I don’t want to use that as an excuse, because Jon and Kent played a great match,” Hanseth said. “But we were both starting to cramp up in the losers’ bracket final. We were really running out of gas.”

They made a go of it, though.

After falling behind, 10-4, Hanson and Hanseth made a run, scoring five consecutive points to cut the score to 10-9. But Stevenson and Steffes had the fresher legs and were able to close out the victory with a flurry of kills and some timely blocks.

“We really didn’t play our best in the final,” Stevenson said. “But we’ll take it.”