Theodore Brunner, Nick Lucena win AVP men’s volleyball championship
Theodore Brunner and Nick Lucena, seeded fourth, first upset the top-seeded team of Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson on Sunday and then went on to win the AVP Championship beach volleyball tournament in Huntington Beach.
Brunner and Lucena, who met while training at a sports facility in Anaheim, beat third-seeded Tri Bourne and 41-year-old John Hyden, 23-21, 7-21, 15-13, in the championship match after upsetting the top-seeded team in a semifinal.
The two won $20,000 to split for the championship, their first as a team on the AVP Tour. This is only their seventh event together. They are 24-12 this season.
Brunner and Lucena began the event riding a three-match losing streak. Before picking up Lucena this season, Brunner had played 14 AVP events with seven partners. Brunner had twice played in Huntington Beach, finishing 37th in 2008 and 57th in 2009.
“This is better,” he said.
Lucena last won an AVP tournament in 2010 with Matt Fuerbringer.
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