Rising Duo Snacks on Top Team
Aaron Wachtfogel and Hans Stolfus played the match of their budding careers Saturday in the third round of the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour’s Hermosa Beach Open, and it left a question burning in everyone’s minds: Which one is peanut butter and which one is jelly?
Wachtfogel and Stolfus, an up-and-coming tandem seeded No. 8, didn’t have an answer for that question, but they delivered a statement about their ability as they knocked off top-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers, 17-21, 30-28, 19-17.
The breakthrough victory, however, was almost overshadowed by a dozen or so Wachtfogel and Stolfus supporters who blasted a song called “Peanut Butter Jelly Time” by the Buckwheat Boyz and cheered boisterously during the match.
Dalhausser and Rogers have seemed nearly invincible in winning the last three AVP tournaments but will have to make a run through the contenders bracket if they are to make it four.
“I’ve got to give it up to the Peanut Butter Jelly people,” said Wachtfogel, whose roommate, Jon Thompson, is the leader of the group. “They keep us in it.”
The crew -- which wore shirts that read “It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time” -- rolled around a wooden stereo cabinet that houses a boom box, an iPod and a car battery to power everything.
It has followed the team on the road all season. The music selection varies, but “Peanut Butter Jelly Time” recently became the team theme song when the players noticed they would go on a run whenever the song was played. “So we started playing it more and more and more and it always worked,” Wachtfogel said.
Against Dalhausser and Rogers, it definitely worked. After winning the first game, Dalhausser and Rogers had nine match points in the second game. In the third game, Dalhausser and Rogers had three more match points before Stolfus and Wachtfogel won when Rogers hit long.
The key might have been a lunchtime snack.
“I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich today,” said Wachtfogel, who had a jar of jelly dumped on him after the victory. “I guess I should start eating more of it.”
Dalhausser and Rogers survived an elimination match later and will play another today at 8:30 a.m. against Jeff Nygaard and Jeff Hyden. Beach legend Karch Kiraly and partner Larry Witt went 2-2 Saturday and were eliminated.
Top-seeded women Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh made it through the first day unbeaten and play Nancy Mason and Jennifer Boss today in a quarterfinal.