All Ball Sports: Beach volleyball as water sport
by Paul Teetor
The Association of Volleyball Professionals gambled that by extending play into Saturday night and starting play early Sunday morning they could finish the tournament in time to avoid the widely predicted hurricane/tropical storm/earthquake before it soaked and maybe even washed out the oldest and most prestigious event on the AVP tour.
The result was a Saturday night show that attracted more than a thousand fans watching from the pier and the bike path as two-man teams battled well past twilight on the outside courts.
Then Sunday morning came and just as semi-final play started at 7 a.m. the rain started falling in a slow but steady drizzle. Predictions of a hurricane or a tropical storm or something even more ominous were in the air, but nothing was going to stop the players who had battled for three days to get to the semifinals with a chance to win the prestigious event and the chance to see their names inscribed forever on the pier.
Fan enthusiasm appeared to be lifted by Hurricane Hillary during Sunday’s Manhattan Open finals.
The fans were just as resilient, and just as determined as the players to get through the day, no matter what came down from the skies. While the stands were never as packed as they are during a normal day for the semis and finals, fans used their umbrellas and sun hats and garbage bags to ward off the rain.
“Hey, I came all the way from Calabasas to see some world-class volleyball, and by God I’m going to see some world class volleyball,” said Kim Hughes. “The hell with this rain.”
Even when the steady drizzle turned into a steady downpour during the men’s final, it didn’t prevent Talyor Crabb from finally adding his name to that of his brother Trevor Crabb, who was already on the pier three times – and was on the other side of the net trying to win his fourth Manhattan Beach Open in four years.
But this time – finally – Taylor Crabb and his partner, Taylor Sender, were able to achieve the dream of every volleyball player.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything more than to play him in the finals and to stop his four-peat,” Taylor Crabb said. “We’ve got four plaques in the house now. It’s awesome. I’ve been here for every single one of his wins and I was stoked for him every time he won, and I’m sure we’re gonna celebrate together tonight.”
Trevor Crabb won the last three AVP Tour Gold Series Manhattan Beach Open titles and was the top seed this year with his partner, Theo Brunner. He was gracious in defeat and noted that he and Taylor are the first blood relatives ever to win the Manhattan Beach Open.
Brunner and Trevor Crabb got out to a 5-0 lead in the first set. But the team of two Taylors – Crabb and Sender – closed the gap until it was 19 all. Just at that moment the power went out on announcer Mark Schuermann, the rain picked up in intensity and the final part of the set was played out in a surrealistic setting: near-total silence except for the relentless pounding of the rain.
But without Schuermann’s verbal byplay and the accompanying outbursts from the crowd, the most dramatic part of the match played out in total silence. From 19-19, the two teams alternated set points all the way up to 25-25 with neither team able to cash in that elusive last point to grab the set.
Theo Brunner and Taylor Crabb squeeze the moisture from the ball during Sunday’s rainy Manhattan Beach Open finals.
The tension built throughout the set until finally the two Taylors — Crabb and Sender – had a 26-25 edge with Taylor Crabb serving. His serve barely made it over the net – the ball was so heavily caked with sand and rain that it felt like a lead balloon – and his brother scooped up the return and passed it to Brunner, who set him up beautifully for a kill shot.
But this time Trevor Crabb swung just a little bit too hard, his shot landed long, and suddenly the epic set was over with little brother – by two and a half years – and his partner taking it by a score of 27-25. The second set seemed like a bit of an anti-climax, with both sides anxious to get away from the mud-like conditions. In the end the final score was 27-25 and 21-16.
While the men’s final was played in wet conditions, by the time the women finalists took the court the rain had turned into a steady downpour.
Top seeded Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles pulled off another first: they lost their first match to 32nd-seeded Chloe Loren and Natalie Robinson and had to fight their way all the way through the contender’s bracket to the semifinals and then into the Finals.
Having survived the near-death experience of a first-round loss, they were determined to see it through to the end against 7th seeded Hailey Harward and Kelly Kolinske in the final. And again, the same pattern prevailed as in the men’s final: a tight first set followed by a let’s-get-out-of-here-before-we-drown second set.
This time the scores were 22-20 and 21-13. The rain let up just long enough for the two winners to accept their trophies, thank everyone who had helped them get to the hallowed ground on the pier – it was the first time for both of them – and get out of the rain just in time.
About 10 minutes later the skies opened up and really let loose. But by then it didn’t matter: the AVP had gambled and won their race against time.
Contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com
Follow: @paulteetor