Beach Volleyball News

Inside the EVP: Virginia Beach

by David Goodman

July 31st, 2007

This week the EVP was in Virginia Beach.  This being my hometown, I figured why not give it a shot...so I entered my first pro event with Dave Russell as a partner.  For those of you who don't know Dave, he won a national championship with UCLA in 2006.  We decided to play down defense, my face hurts from laughter, since we both are 6'6".

 

All kidding aside, Dave played extremely well and the first match I struggled with passing and putting the ball away...I tried hard Mr. Heath.  That was a bit of a problem since I saw every serve most of the match, as expected.   We lost our first match to a solid local team 21-17, 21-16 and off to the loser's bracket we went.  Sparing you the play by play, we were defeated 25-20 and so it was uno, dos adios for team "dream draw".  A little side note, it's always your fault when you don't win a match with a guy who actually sniffed the court at UCLA.  Thanks for the run Dave and I wish I could eat donuts before a match!

 

Enough about my first pro event, the venue was located right on 9th street in the deep hot sands of the Virginia Beach oceanfront...a real beach by the way. After a brutal storm ripped through the setup on Friday evening, while most of us were enjoying sashimi and Corona Lights at Crocs, the hard working staff of the EVP and TVA put the venue back together.  Rocky, Craig and staff truly deserve an award for this one.

 

On the men's side there were 17 teams all vying for the first EVP Virginia Beach title and a share of the 5k-prize money.  With temperatures reaching 92 degrees and most matches on the men's side going three games, it was a tough day for the competition.  One team that wasn't affected by the heat was Shane and Chase Holderby, mainly because their age totaled 32.  This young team decided to enter the event early in the week and played some exceptional ball.  Look for Shane (17) and Chase (15) to make some noise in the years to come, as they continue to improve on their chemistry and gain valuable beach experience.

 

The local team of Josh "can I get a serve" Zuidema and Jeremy "Stretch" Ayers battled their way through the winner's bracket never dropping a match all day.  Josh and Jeremy won 9 local events in a row heading into the event and were excited to represent Virginia Beach in this City vs. City format on the EVP tour stop. After some tough matches and tough calls, Team Santa Cruz - Dhiraj Coats and Andrew Fuller, fought their way to the finals. As the crowd gathered around center court, Mother Nature reminded us once again that it was her beach.  The finals had to be moved to Sunday morning at 10 am, where the two best teams would square off in a 3 game thriller.

 

Team Virginia Beach took the first game 21-11 and had some momentum heading into game 2.  Team Santa Cruz rallied back in the 2nd game (21-17) with the big 6'10" lefty getting some crucial blocks against the local team.  In the 3rd game it was a hard fought battle on both sides with Team Santa Cruz prevailing.  Congratulations to Andrew and Dhiraj for taking the inaugural EVP Virginia Beach title.  Look for Team Virginia Beach and Team Santa Cruz to make some noise in the National Championships in Chicago on Aug. 11th, where they will compete against some of the best teams across the nation for a share of the $5,000.00 purse.

 

On the women's side Kelly Rowe and Carrie Wright defeated Jill Pickus and Dana Fiume in 3 games.  Women's center court was packed all day with knowledgeable local fans.  This win makes it number 3 for Kelly and Carrie on the EVP tour and their 2nd win in a row. The local team of Jill Wright and Jody Lindstrom tied for 3rd with Team Omaha - Tracy Blair and Chestnut Livermore.

 

Check back in a few weeks when Beach Volleyball News travels to Chicago!