Great Day at Beach for Ceman-Blanton

There was a storybook ending to the $300,000 Hermosa Beach Grand Slam on Sunday, and not merely because seventh-seeded Canyon Ceman and partner Dain Blanton upset top-seeded Kent Steffes and Jose Loiola, 15-13, in the final.

Ceman, 24, and Blanton, 25, are local players who grew up watching many of their competitors and had never won a tournament.

For Ceman, a graduate of nearby Mira Costa High and an All-American setter at Stanford, it was an emotional victory.

“When I was a kid I used to shag balls for some of these guys and to beat them is incredible,” he said. Blanton, a former All-American at Pepperdine, became the first African American to win a pro beach volleyball tournament. The victory was extra special since Blanton and Ceman lost a morning winners’ bracket final, 15-9, to Steffes-Loiola.

“This is exactly how I would have dreamed it,” Blanton said.

Trailing, 13-11, and with only 10 seconds left on the eight-minute clock, Ceman went to the service line for a point that would send the game into overtime. Loiola set Steffes, but Steffes hit the ball long and Ceman-Blanton came to within 13-12.

On Ceman’s next serve, Steffes hit the ball wide to tie the match at 13-13. Blanton then blocked Loiola’s shot at the net for a 14-13 lead.

Steffes and Loiola fought off two match points, but on the third one Steffes hit a cut shot wide and the match was over.

“They didn’t play their best, but that doesn’t matter to me,” Ceman said. “We won.”

Ceman and Blanton will split $60,000 and Steffes-Loiola will share $34,200. Fifth-seeded Randy Stoklos and Troy Tanner won $27,090 for placing third and second-seeded Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson got $21,390 for fourth.