$150,000 EVENT LAUNCHES "NEW' AVP TOUR AT MERVYN'S BEACH BASH;106 TEAMS ENTER MEN'S SIDE OUT & WOMEN'S UNION BAY AVP HERMOSA BEACH EVENT
Association of Volleyball Professionals
2221 Park Place, El Segundo, Calif. 90245;
310/426-8000; FAX 310-426-8010
Revised June 6, 2001
HERMOSA BEACH, CALIF. - This weekend's pro beach volleyball event sports the
"biggest" field in domestic  history as the newly-acquired Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) stages its opening 2001 event on eight sand courts north of the Hermosa Beach Pier. The $150,000 AVP stop features both men's and women's
competition.  A record 106 teams have entered the three-day event starting Friday
at 9 a.m. (PDT) with a 45-team men's and 29-team women's Qualification
Tournaments to determine the final four berths in each gender's Main Draw.
Part of the third annual Mervyn's Beach Bash, the $75,000  men's Side Out AVP
Hermosa Beach Open will have a 24-team Main Draw while the $75,000 women's
Union Bay AVP Hermosa Beach Open sports a 16-team Main Draw.  A total of 60
men's and women's Main Draw matches will be played Saturday starting at 9 a.m.
Sunday's competition starts at 8 a.m. with the women's final scheduled for 2:30 p.m. followed by the men's Gold Medal match.  Sunday's winning teams will share the $16,750 first-place prizes.Led by Leonard Armato, Management Plus of El Sequndo,
Calif., acquired the AVP last month (May 31, 2001) to unite the world's best men's
and women's professional beach volleyball players under one umbrella organization.  The unification has attracted the large domestic field for the first of eight stops on the "new" AVP Tour. Armato actually founded the AVP and served as its executive director in the 1980's.  Under his initial leadership, the AVP developed into a national
professional league, attracting major sponsors and national television exposure along with increases in player prize money.  His involvement is expected to give the sport a much-needed boost following a number of lackluster seasons. In addition to the AVP Tour's new leadership, this weekend's tournaments feature: Sydney 2000 Olympic Gold Medallists Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana headline the 65-team men's field.  The 'golden guys from Sydney's Bondi Beach" are expected to battle Canyon Ceman/Mike Whitmarsh and Dax Holdren/Todd Rogers for the men's title.  Ceman and Whitmarsh won one domestic title together in 2000.Whitmarsh, a Silver Medallists at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games with Mike Dodd, captured the AVP's King of the Beach competition in Las Vegas to end the 2000 season.  Holdren and Rogers have won five tournaments since the start of the 2000 season, including an international stop in Mexico last June and a domestic event in Clearwater Beach, Fla., this past April. Karch Kiraly, the winningest player in pro beach history (142 wins and $2,953,568 in earnings) is expected to compete for the first time after ending the 2000 season last August in Belgium with a dislocated shoulder.  Brent Doble will play with Kiraly, who had played the last four seasons with Adam Johnson (winning 16 times together in 61 Main Draw starts). Holly McPeak, the No. 1-ranked women in career earnings($726,930 with the third-most titles - 55), renews her partnership with Lisa Arce for the Union Bay AVP Hermosa Beach Open.  McPeak and Arce teamed to win 14 events in 37career starts together in 1996 and 1997.  Both players have  also won Queen of the Beach titles.  Arce captured the 1998 title in Huntington Beach, Calif.,and McPeak in 1999 at Las Vegas.  McPeak, a two-time beach Olympian for the United States, was the 2000 domestic leader for both men and women in earnings with $139,900 and five Gold Medals.Olympians Barbra Fontana and Elaine Youngs are battling Arce and McPeak for the United States' No. 1 women's team.  Fontana and Youngs started the 2001 season in April by placing fourth in Macau at the international season opener followed by a Gold Medal domestic finish at Clearwater Beach where they defeated McPeak and Rachel Wacholder in the finals. McPeak and Misty May defeated Fontana and Youngs for the Bronze Medal in Macau.
MEDIA RELATIONS - The Robbins Group handles the media relations' duties for the AVP Tour (Marsha Robbins, Debbie Rubio and Ann Victor, 818/776-1244,
robbinsgroup@bvatour.com).
PRESS OPERATIONS - Tim Simmons (303/678-8484;e-mail bfishinc@aol.com) and
Dominic Clark (702/735-7123, dominiccnv@aol.com) are the Press Information
Officers for the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. Simmons and Clark will be
headquartered at the Holiday Inn Express (310/798-9898,Room 240) in Hermosa Beach.