Seven Women Sign to Join Men’s Beach Volleyball Tour

Seven of the top women’s players will join the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals men’s beach tour for the first time this weekend in Phoenix, tour officials announced Wednesday.

Seven of the top 11 players from the Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. have signed six-year contracts with the AVP to participate in a series of matches in conjunction with the men’s tour. An eighth player has yet to be selected.

The women will compete in 19 tournaments, including the Seal Beach Aug. 13-15, for a total $325,000 purse.

The Women’s Sports Foundation has criticized the AVP for signing the players away from the women’s tour. And their departure also could jeopardize the future of the women’s tour, which has suffered a series of financial setbacks and administrative changes in the past year.

But the women who are joining the AVP say their move will only help the future of the sport. NBC will televise the women’s matches as part of six AVP telecasts, including live coverage of the finals at Milwaukee July 31-Aug. 1. The national telecasts are a first for women’s beach volleyball.

“What’s important to look at is the advancement of women’s volleyball,” said Angela Rock, a former El Toro High standout and one of the tour’s top players. “I think this will be a fun format to compete in, and we’re delighted to be playing on TV.”

The players leaving the women’s tour to join the AVP:

--Rock, who dominated the women’s tour in 1990 and ’91 with Karolyn Kirby.

--Huntington Beach’s Cammy Ciarelli, who finished sixth last season.

--Former WPVA president Linda Chisholm-Carrillo, of Van Nuys, who tied for second last season with Liz Masakayan.

--Fifth-ranked Nancy Reno, from Carlsbad, who won her first pro tournament with Rock at last season’s WPVA Seal Beach Open.

--Seventh-ranked Jackie Silva of Redondo Beach, the No. 2 all-time winningest player on the tour behind Kirby.

--Laguna Beach native Linda Hanley, wife of AVP player John Hanley, who is returning after taking part of the past two seasons off.

The eighth player was originally announced as current WPVA president Barbara Fontana. But Fontana declined the contract offer and AVP officials said they are negotiating with other players.

The women will rotate partners weekly for nine tournaments, then select permanent partners for the remaining 10 tournaments, starting with the Chicago Open June 26-27. The prize money will be awarded at the end of the season, with the top-ranked player earning $65,000.

“Because of the nature of the small women’s field,” said Jeff Dankworth, the AVP’s executive director, “it wasn’t realistic to award prize money per event because of the disparity with the men and the women.”

The men’s tour, which includes more than 40 two-player teams, has a purse of $3.7 million.

Several of the top WPVA players approached AVP officials last November about joining the men’s tour. Many of the players were upset with the WPVA, which reduced its tour from 18 to 13 events and decreased prize money from $40,000 per tournament to $25,000.

Rock was asked if more WPVA players will move to the AVP next year.

“I think the talent pool is more than just the WPVA,” Rock said. “There’s the U.S. national team, the colleges . . .

“I see it (AVP expansion) increasing rapidly. There’s nowhere else to go but straight up.”