AVPNext Semi-pro Circuit names Main Draw
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – The AVPNext Semi-pro Circuit, a program offering
elite up-and-coming amateur beach volleyball competitors the opportunity
to compete on the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, finished its run through
Florida and determined which representatives earned the chance to compete
in the Main Draw of the first stop of the 2003 AVP Nissan Series.
Sanctioned by AVPNext, East End Volleyball’s $45,000 Big Shot Volleyball
Series concluded with the March 29-30 Big Shot Open at Jacksonville Beach,
Fla. The event ended a seven-tournament swing with Cape May, N.J.’s Jim
Walls and Florida’s Paula Roca and Gracie Santana-Baeni earning automatic
entry into the men’s and women’s Main Draw of the April 4-6 Paul Mitchell
Fort Lauderdale Open.
AVPNext, the developmental program of the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour,
selected EEVB (offering events in areas on the eastern seaboard, Northeast
and mid-Atlantic), California Beach Volleyball Association, Colorado Professional
Volleyball Association and the Toyota Tour (mid-Atlantic) as the associations
most qualified to take part in the AVPNext Semi-pro Circuit’s trial season.
The top ranked men’s and women’s team from each selected AVPNext Semi-Pro
Circuit association, meeting the necessary requirements, receive automatic
entry into the Main Draw of predetermined AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour
events during the 2003 season.
The men’s top competitor for the men participating in the Florida swing
is South Carolina's Jake Elliott who already had the necessary qualification
points for entry into the Main Draw of the Fort Lauderdale tournament giving
Walls the automatic berths. Walls selected Gaston Macau (Miami) as his playing
partner.
In the most recent event Elliott and Walls won the men’s championship
while Roca and Santana-Baeni took home the women’s crown. The title was
the fourth for the men’s team, fifth for Elliott and gave the women a sweep
of all the female brackets in the Big Shot Volleyball Series.
AVPNext Semi-pro Circuit contestants earn points that determine a player’s
national ranking and are applied toward entry into the Sept. 12-14 AVPNext
U.S. Amateur Championships in Santa Barbara, Calif. where the male and female
winners receive automatic entry into the Main Draw of the first four AVP
events of the 2004 season.
2003 AVPNext Semi-pro Circuit (Florida)
Event Champions
March 1: Miami Beach, Fla.
(M): Jake Elliott, Jim Walls
(W): Paula Roca, Gracie Santana-Baeni
March 5: Holiday Isle, Fla.
(M): Adam Roberts, Matt Heath
March 8: Siesta Key, Fla.
(M): Jake Elliott, Jim Walls
(W): Paula Roca, Gracie Santana-Baeni
March 13: Clearwater Beach, Fla.
(M): Jake Elliott, BJ Soldano
March 15: Clearwater Beach, Fla.
(M): Jake Elliott, Jim Walls
(W): Paula Roca, Gracie Santana-Baeni
March 22-23: Delray Key, Fla.
(M): Joe Rohr, Matt Henderson
(W): Paula Roca, Gracie Santana-Baeni
March 29-30: Jacksonville Beach, Fla.
(M): Jake Elliott, Jim Walls
(W): Paula Roca, Gracie Santana-Baeni
Men's Rankings
Player Pts.
Jake Elliott 122
Jim Walls 107
Adam Roberts 83
Matt Heath 83
Joe Rohr 62
Nick Lucena 51
Women's Rankings
Player Pts.
Paula Roca 58
Gracie Santana-Baeni 58
Francie Rard 39
Teri Van Dyke 32
Wendy Martin 24