Trio Open for business

Brad Keenan has been here before.

Sisters Katie and Tracy Lindquist are also quite familiar with these surroundings.

Yet the trio, local athletes playing on the 2008 Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Crocs Tour, will attempt to venture into new territory when they compete this weekend at the Huntington Beach Open.

The annual seaside event begins with open qualifier matches at 8 a.m. today at the Huntington Beach Pier. It continues with first-round action of the 24-team main draw at 8 a.m. Friday and then with main draw play at 8 a.m. Saturday, all leading up to a 2:30 p.m. men’s final and 4 p.m. women’s final Saturday.

In addition, the Huntington Beach Open this year is the third and final leg of the Cuervo Gold Crown Series. On Sunday, the top four men’s and women’s teams in cumulative points after the first three Crocs series events of the season — beginning with Miami April 11-13, then Dallas April 18-20 and now this weekend’s event in Surf City — will compete in a winner-takes-all tournament to determine the Cuervo Gold Crown Series champion.

In addition to the prize money won at the individual men’s and women’s tournaments, one male and one female team will win a $25,000 bonus check by taking the Cuervo Gold Crown titles Sunday .

The reigning Cuervo Gold Crown Series champs are Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers on the men’s side, and Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs on the women’s side.

“The Huntington Beach Open is the first AVP Crocs Tour event of the season in Southern California and we’re extremely excited to be back,” said Leonard Armato, commissioner and chief executive of the AVP Crocs Tour. “This is a big event for us. It’s not only our season debut out west but the finals of the Cuervo Gold Crown Series will be determined in Huntington.

“We hope everybody comes out to watch some great beach volleyball. There are reigning champs such as the women’s team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, the top men’s team of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, Olympians and Olympic hopefuls. Plus, there are several local athletes who always do well here.”

The open qualifier allows anyone to enter the tournament and have a shot at advancing to the 24-team main draw Friday.

Keenan, a graduate of Fountain Valley High (Class of 1999), is in his third year on the AVP tour and last year achieved his best showing — third-place — at the Huntington Beach Open.

That tournament marked the debut of the newly formed team of Keenan and his current playing partner, John Hyden of Sherman Oaks.

The 6-foot-8, 25-year-old Kennan said beach volleyball had never piqued his interest before a phone call from John Mayer, a player with the AVP and teammate of Keenan’s at Pepperdine University, changed his mind.

“I had never wanted to play beach volleyball,” Keenan acknowledged. “I grew up around here and never played at the beach. John called me and wanted me to play as his partner.

“I was a middle-blocker indoors and had to learn new facets of the outdoor game. Learning to pass was one of those things. It took a lot of work but I’m now loving it. It’s so much fun. I’m just bummed that I wasn’t playing on the beach when I was younger.”

Keenan, one of the younger players on the tour and one of the few to wear a T-shirt when he plays, and Mayer teamed for the entirety of his first year with the AVP in 2006 and two events into the 2007 Crocs Series. Keenan then moved on to form a partnership with Hyden.

Last May here, Keenan and Hyden were eliminated from men’s title contention in the semifinal round by eventual champions Stein Metzger and Mike Lambert.

Keenan and Mayer are seeded third in the men’s tournament main draw. They have a first-round bye and will play their first match sometime before noon Friday.

“We were third here last year and we both feel that we can go further this year,” said Keenan, who played on three Final Four teams while at Pepperdine. “I’ll have the support of a lot of family and friends here. This would be the perfect place to get that first [series] win.”

Katie and Tracy Lindquist also had success at last year’s Huntington Beach Open with a fifth-place finish.

Both school teachers and graduates of Ocean View High, Katie, 30, and Tracy, 27, in their seventh year with the AVP and seeded 12th in this weekend’s women’s main draw, were in unison when discussing what it will take to advance to the semifinal round, and beyond, this year.

“We need to be consistent,” Tracy Lindquist said.

“It’s all about consistency,” Katie Lindquist later offered, adding, “we can hang with any of the teams when we play consistent ball.

“The difference between the top players and those below that level, is that the top teams don’t have the ups and down that the lower teams seem to struggle with. For us, to reach that next level, it’s all about being consistent each match.”

The Lindquists are scheduled to play a first-round match sometime between 8:45 and 10 a.m. Friday.

“Katie and I love playing in Huntington Beach,” said Tracy Lindquist who is in her first year teaching at Mesa View Middle School. “We grew up here and are very comfortable in our surroundings. We’ll be playing before family and friends and that support always is a boost to our play.”

Maria Menounos, a correspondent for Access Hollywood and an actress, is this year’s celebrity player. Menounos and her playing partner will compete against another amateur team in a match tentatively set for 8 a.m. today. Both teams are looking to earn a spot in the tournament’s main draw where they’d get the opportunity to compete against the top players in the world.

The top seed in the women’s tournament is the reigning Huntington Beach Open championship team of May-Treanor and Walsh who captured the first two series tournament titles of the season at Miami and Dallas. The top seed on the men’s side is the team of Dalhausser and Rogers who also won titles at Miami and Dallas. Dalhausser and Rogers also were the No. 1 seed in last year’s Huntington Beach Open, but finished third.

The Huntington Beach Open also affords locals a final chance to watch one of the most accomplished women’s beach volleyball players, Holly McPeak, in action. McPeak, a three-time Olympian and wife of Leonard Armato, has announced that she will retire at the end of this season.

HUNTINGTON BEACH OPEN

Today: 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Qualifier

Friday: 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. , Main draw

Saturday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Main draw; men’s final at 2:30 p.m.; women’s final at 4 p.m.

Sunday: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Cuervo Gold Crown Series play; Gold Crown men’s final at 1:30 p.m.; Gold Crown women’s final at 3 p.m.

TICKETS

Available by logging onto www.avp.com. General admission tickets are $20 per day or $55 for a three-day pack (Friday-Sunday). Court-side seating is $40 per day and up. Admission is free Thursday.

AWARENESS IS KEY

Three-time Olympian and melanoma survivor Jeff Nygaard will be competing in the Association of Volleyball Players Pro Beach Volleyball Tour this weekend. As a spokesperson for the Sun Safety Alliance, Jeff is generating awareness for skin cancer by sharing his personal story of battling melanoma and offering tips for protecting Huntington Beach residents from the summer sun. The following information was found at www.sunsafetyalliance.com.

 You can sunburn even on a cloudy day.

 On average, children get three times’ more exposure than adults.

 The vast majority, perhaps as much as 80% of a person’s lifetime sun exposure is estimated to occur by age 18.

 Concrete, sand, water and snow reflect 85% to 90% of the sun’s UV rays.

MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at (714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.