With bull’s eyes on their backs, Presley Forbes of Manhattan Beach and Sunny Villapando of Hermosa Beach look to keep their tournament championship streak intact when the team competes in the 18th Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Nationals Beach Volleyball tournament Saturday and Sunday at the Hermosa Beach Pier. Action begins at 9 a.m. each day and is open to boys and girls in 10U, 12U, 14U, 16U and 18U divisions.
Playing in the Girls 12U division, Forbes and Villapando have been gold-medal winners in every AAU tournament they have entered this season. In June, the duo captured the AAU California Regional Championship in Manhattan Beach by defeating Chloe Newton (Hermosa Beach) and Lily Snyder (Manhattan Beach) in the finals. Kyana Morgan (Hermosa Beach) and Lea Unger (Manhattan Beach) won bronze medals.
South Bay athletes continue to excel in local AAU competition producing strong performances in the California Regional Championships.
In the Girls 10U competition, Lindsey Kelly (Manhattan Beach) and Brielle Mullaly (Garden Grove) defeated Kristen Cordero (Manhattan Beach) and Riley Hazelrigg (Hermosa Beach) for the gold medal.
Local girls also had a strong showing in the 14U division with Abril Bustamante (Redondo Beach) and Skylar Caputo (Manhattan Beach) defeating the Manhattan Beach team of Grace Campbell and Olivia Rodberg for the championship. Payton Chang (Manhattan Beach) and Natalie Anselmo (Malibu) finished fourth, earning copper medals.
In the Girls 18U competition, Jace Pardon (Manhattan Beach) and Casey Levitt (Thousand Oaks) defeated Lindsay Colbert (Rancho Palos Verdes) and Courtney Eppiler (San Pedro) in the championship match.
In the boys 10U competition, the Manhattan Beach team of Kyle Johnson and Jake Wall took second place.
The 12U division produced five medalists. Bobby Barkley (Manhattan Beach) and Sebastian Rodriguez (Hermosa Beach) bested the Manhattan Beach duo of Luke Grafton and Jack Walmer for the gold. Dane Johnson (Manhattan Beach) and Jevan Coronado (West Covina) finished third.
Blake Markland (Manhattan Beach) and Tanner Smith (Hermosa Beach) brought home gold medals in the Boys 14U division with a win over Kyle Jasuta (Manhattan Beach) and Trevor Liu (Manhattan Beach).
In the 16U group, Vincent Pizzuti (Redondo Beach) and Louis Richard (Los Angeles) won gold. The Manhattan Beach tandem of Kieran Coughlin and Jack Payne took home bronze medals.
For more information, contact Gino Grajeda, ggrajeda181@msn.com or www.aaubeach.org.
