Hannemann, Boss Survive Wind, No. 3-Seeded Team

If anyone on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Tour forgot what the Seal Beach stop was famous for, they were quickly reminded.

Winds reaching 15 mph gave players trouble all day Friday, the first day of the $50,000 AVP Open at Seal Beach. This is the first year Seal Beach has hosted an AVP Tour stop since it was dropped from the schedule after 1995.

Ball control and low passes are the keys to success at the double-elimination tournament, and those who mastered those aspects advanced.

“We kept the ball low and we passed really well,” Albert Hannemann said after he and partner Aaron Boss pulled off the upset of the day, defeating third-seeded Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana, 15-10, in the second round from the No. 14 spot.

“We were more aggressive in our serving and our siding out,” Hennemann said. “The wind can be a big advantage if you win the toss.”

Winning the coin toss before the match gives a team the choice of which side of the net it will start on.

And while Blanton and Fonoimoana were the only team to be upset on stadium court, most of the favorites who played there did receive a scare.

Top-seeded Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson were involved in the tightest match of the day, a 17-15 thriller over No. 16 Brent Doble and Dan Castillo in the second round.

Kiraly and Johnson also struggled in their first match, a 15-7 victory.

“We could’ve done better in all parts of our game,” Johnson said. “We could serve better, pass better and sided out better.”

But while most of the top teams struggled with the wind, the second-seeded team of Mike Whitmarsh and Kent Steffes rolled though its two matches, 15-5 and 15-7.

If any team has the Seal Beach conditions figured out, it should be Whitmarsh and Steffes.

Whitmarsh owns the Seal Beach tournament, having won it three consecutive times with Mike Dodd before its two-year hiatus.