Hopes and dreams became realities at Pere Marquette beach Friday night.Nine slots were available for the Association of Volleyball Professionals Sunkist Open, which begins today, and many of the teams that advanced included plenty of first-time qualifiers.None were more ecstatic than 28-year-old Morgan Mainz. Seconds after he and partner,Dancer Styles, became the third team to qualify, Mainz let out plenty of whoops and flashed a huge smile at finally making the "big show". "I've worked my butt off to get here," said Mainz, of Santa Barbara, Calif., after they upset the third-seeded team of Mike Emory and Jim Walls. "I've been looking for a breakthrough and this hopefully is it. I'm just on cloud nine right now." Three other men's duos - top-seeded Jacob Elliott and Brian Soldano, fifth-seeded Tom Black and Andrew Vasquez and 10th-seeded Shawn Garrus and Chad Turner  advanced to face the top AVP teams.The second-seeded team of Anthony Medel and John Moran qualified in a "lucky losers"bracket after Mark Paaluhi and Leland Quinn withdrew early Friday morning. On the women's side, which turned into a
double-elimination tourney due to just 12 entries, top-seeded Deanne Johnson and Barbara Nyland qualified for today's AVP event, as did third-seeded Kerri Eich and Catie Fliesher, seventh-seeded Arcadia Berjonneau and Rhonda Kottke and eighth-seeded Jeanette Simonsen and Stacey Wanshek.The men's qualifying tournament included 33 teams in a single-elimination format, with each match a best-of-three featuring international rules. The losers of the four final round matches were paired off in a one-game
semifinal, with the winners advancing to another one-game match determine the final qualifier. Medel and Moran gladly stepped into the opening. "We found out right before the tournament started," said Moran, another first-time AVP qualifier, of the fifth spot. "I was stoked. I knew if we just made it to the quarterfinals we'd have another chance to get there." The last play-in match featuring Medel-Moran and the fourth-seeded tandem of Sean Burke and Elvis Rodriguez was one of the most entertaining of the day.With his team leading 9-7, Moran badly bruised his knee on a barrier around the stadium court while chasing down an errant dig. After sitting for five minutes, Moran came back to help Medel win the match 21-16. "It was just adrenaline," said Moran. "I'd be lying if I didn't say it hurt a lot, because it does." Regardless of the injury, Moran and Medel never let Burke and Rodriguez get more than one point at a time the entire match."At this point we know that all the teams are good and you have to step up your game if you're going to win," said Medel, a 23-year-old Santa Barbara native. "It was due for us. We've been together only five weeks, but no one's worked harder for this than us."Mainz and Styles could argue after training for eight months and qualifying in their third try this year.For Styles, this will be his fourth AVP tourney,including one in Manhattan Beach seven years ago that made him the youngest player to enter an AVP event. Johnson-Nyland and Berjonneau-Kottke each advanced without a loss. Berjonneau and Kottke have both played big-time volleyball before, but this is the first time they'll actually play in an AVP event."We've been practicing so hard to get here,"said Berjonneau. "We've just been playing against other top players and not in tournaments so we could stay used to the same rules and keep the same style of play." Berjonneau and Kottke both live in Southern California. They hooked up earlier this year after playing in separate venues earlier in their careers.Berjonneau, 31, was born in Paris and played for France in 1996 and 1997 while in playing in the FIVB. Kottke, 33, played on the old WPVA.Each are excited their paths took them to Muskegon."It's great to be able to qualify for the AVP,"said Kottke. "And Muskegon's great. The sand is great and it's great to see the enthusiasm here, where people actually show up for just a qualifying tourney. I can't wait to see how many people show up (today)." Simonsen and Wanshek, who celebrated her 30th birthday Friday, and Eich and Fliesher each had to overcome a tough loss to qualify.Eich and Fliesher led 11-5, then fell behind 14-11 before rallying to win game one of their 21-19, 21-11 qualifying win over 12th-seeded Angie Robbins and Lorelee Smith."We didn't expect to be out here so long, so we only had some fig newtons and a banana for lunch," said Eich. "We were starving and cramping up out there, but we really wanted to be there tomorrow. It's so exciting."