4-Player Beach Volleyball Has Its Share of Talent

When the Bud Light Volleyball League returns to Huntington Beach this weekend, it might be easy to overlook two former Orange County stars.

Former Edison High standout Dan Hanan has helped Team Outdoor Products win four tournaments this year. But his team also features two-time Olympian Doug Partie and current national team members Mike Sealy and Erik Sullivan.

In the women’s league, Team Nike captain Gabrielle Reece has helped her team take the points lead. And it’s former Mission Viejo High standout Stephanie Cox who is setting the offense.

Although this four-player tour is often overshadowed by the more lucrative doubles tours, it isn’t short on talent.

Eight former Olympians--including Bob Ctvrtlik and Laguna Beach’s Scott Fortune--play in the men’s league and former Olympians Kim Oden of Irvine and Tammy Liley of Westminster play in the women’s league.

And if you talk to the players and coaches, this tour offers the most exciting beach volleyball play.

“Just look at who is playing out here, especially the men,” said Dan Glenn, who coaches Team Norelco in the women’s league. “You have two of the best middle blockers in the country in Jeff Nygaard and Tom Hoff, and also Olympic veterans like Dusty Dvorak and Eric Sato.

“The talent level is scary.”

It’s easy to see how someone like Hanan, a former three-time All-American at Stanford, can be overlooked.

Besides, he’s just another . . . computer geek?

“I work full-time as a programmer,” Hanan said from his home in San Diego. “I’m just a computer nerd at heart.”

Hanan authors a web page that features results, notes and player information for the Bud Light leagues. His hobbies include writing video games and volleyball.

“But that doesn’t mean that I don’t work hard at it,” said Hanan, who was the Southern Section’s League 4-A player of the year in 1986. “I go to work from 6:30 to 5:30, then two to three times a week after work, I’ll go to the beach to practice until sundown.

“I’m still training the same amount as someone playing full time and I’m still holding my own against gold medalists.”

Hanan is currently second in the league in kills and already has earned two league titles and two all-league selections. And all of this with his full-time programming job.

“I guess you just have to be cut out for that kind of thing,” Hanan said.

Cox had a similar schedule. She was working full time as a legal clerk, but she recently took a sabbatical to focus on the remainder of the volleyball season and her wedding next month.

“There were some days when I just wanted to get out of the office and head to the beach to play volleyball,” Cox said. “But there are times, too, when I get so burned out on volleyball that I couldn’t wait to get back into the office.

“And the reality with any sport is that you could blow your knee out tomorrow, and if you have nothing to fall back on, where are you?

“That extra added pressure of playing for your rent or mortgage, I don’t need that.”

So Cox is using her law and society degree she earned at UC Santa Barbara and is looking forward to her law education and career after she’s done playing volleyball.

“I’m fully committed to this tour,” Cox said. “It’s different than doubles; there is more offense, strategy, setting and defense. It’s great.

“I want to keep playing. I’m having too much fun.”

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Volleyball Pro Tour

* What--One of 12 stops on the tour featuring four-player teams, in men’s and women’s divisions, competing for $825,000 in prize money.

* Where--Huntington Beach Pier.

* Schedule--Saturday: Men’s preliminary matches, 8 a.m., 9, noon, 1 p.m., 4, 5. Women’s preliminary matches, Saturday at 10 a.m., 11, 2 p.m., 3.

Sunday: Women’s preliminary matches, 8 a.m., 9. Men’s semifinal, 10 a.m. Women’s semifinal, 11:15 a.m. Men’s final, 12:30 p.m. Women’s final, 2 p.m.

* Tickets--Admission is free.