28-TEAM QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT LAUNCHES THE PAUL MITCHELL OPEN;SEVEN LOCAL BEACH VOLLEYBALL TEAMS SEEK MAIN DRAW BERTHS FRIDAY
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. - With seven teams from the Tidewater Volleyball Association in the field, The Paul Mitchell Open at Virginia Beach starts here Friday (July 27) with a 28-team Qualification Tournament to determine the final four Main Draw berths in this weekend's Association of Volleyball Professionals(AVP) Pro Beach Volleyball Tour event.With many of the United States' top men pro beach volleyball players vying for
$62,500 in prize money, The Paul Mitchell Open at Virginia Beach will be played
on six sand courts at the Sixth Street Beach site behind the Ramada Inn on Atlantic Avenue.  Friday's Qualification Tournament starts at 9 a.m. (EDT) with 24 matches scheduled.The first 48 Main Draw matches will be played Saturday starting at 9 a.m.
Sunday's competition starts at 7:30 a.m. with the final 14 matches being played.  The final two matches will begin approximately at 1 p.m. Sunday. Brighton Entertainment of New York, N. Y., will be taping The Paul Mitchell Open at Virginia Beach action for replay August 6 on FOX Sports Net.For the second-straight weekend, a local team will be seeking a berth in the "money" rounds as Ihor Akinshyn (Hackensack, N. J.) and Wayne Gant (Wall, N.J.) captured three-straight Qualification Tournament matches last Friday in Belmar, N. J., to earn a Main Draw berth.Local Tidewater Volleyball Association teams in the qualifier includes Andre Melo (Manassas, Va.)/Jason Wight (Fairfax, Va.), Rance Jones (Hampton,
Va.)/David Keeter (Virginia Beach, Va.), Jeff Mordica (Poquoson, Va.)/Adam
Sutton (Newport News, Va.), Jon Hunter (Virginia Beach)/Robert Kendall
(Virginia Beach), Joe Massicotte (Virginia Beach, Va.)/Dave Roberts (Virginia
Beach) and Sean Callahan (Falls Church, Va.)/Kevin Gregan (Whitplains, Md.).
Also competing for a Main Draw berth in The Paul Mitchell Open are Mike DiPierro (Pompano Beach, Fla.), Jim VanZwieten (Pompano Beach, Fla.), Chris Kosty (Fountain Valley, Calif.) and Ed Ratledge (Fountain Valley, Calif.). DiPierro and VanZwieten teamed together in Belmar last week to advance to the Main Draw, but will be playing with different partners this week.  Kosty and Ratledge earned Main Draw berths through the Huntington Beach (Calif.) qualifier last month.