by Kevin Cody
If the Manhattan Beach Open is the Wimbledon of beach volleyball, then the Hermosa Beach Open is the soul of beach volleyball.
The Manhattan Open two weeks ago and the Hermosa Open this past weekend illustrate the differences between the two tournaments.
The Manhattan Open is sponsored by the AVP, which is owned by Alden Global Capital, a New York hedge fund. The Hermosa Open is owned by local beach volleyball players, led by Hermosa Beach tournament director Mark Paaluhi. Like the Manhattan Open, the Hermosa Open has a financial services sponsor, Wedbush Securities. But Wedbush’s owners, Gary and Eric Wedbush, are local volleyball players, for whom the tournament is a passion project, not a profit center.
The AVP Manhattan Open has stadium grandstands. Fans come for “the experience.” The Hermosa Beach Open has courtside towels and beach chairs. Its fans come for the volleyball.
Evidence of the fans’ knowledge of the game and its players was the support they threw behind the Brazilian Olympics team of Alison Cerutti and Alvaro Filho.
In the Hermosa Open semi finals, where the Brazilians defeated U.S. Paris Olympians Chase Budinger and Miles Evans, the fans were evenly divided. In the finals, the fans were solidly behind the Brazilians, despite their opponents being former Stanford star and U.S. Olympian James Shaw, and Canadian Olympian Chaim Schalk, who has dual Canadian-American citizenship.
The Brazilians were the sentimental favorites because, at 39, Cerutti is retiring this year, after a celebrated, 20 year career.
Volleyball fans remember him best for the frenzy of national pride he ignited by winning the gold medal at the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics, at Copacabana Beach, the courts he grew up playing on.
Cerutti, nicknamed “The Mammoth,” is 6-foot-8, 235 pounds. But like Shaquille O’Neil in his prime, Cerutti is deceptively athletic. Next to partner Filho a lithe, 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, with an outsized leap, they look like Mutt and Jeff.
After the Brazilians narrowly upset Budinger and Evans in Sunday morning’s semis, a fan observed Cerutti looked too exhausted to go on to the finals, scheduled for early Sunday afternoon.
“He looked that way at the start of the semifinals, too,” another fan observed.
In the first match of the finals, with the temperature in the 80s, and fans needing sandals to stand in the sand, the Brazilians were behind midway, 13 to 15, to their rail thin opponents, Schalk and Shaw.
But then, when The Mammoth might have been expected to fade, he led a 7-0 run to win the first game, 21-16.
The second game was equally close at the midpoint, with the score tied at 13-13. But then again, despite Cerutti humorously hanging on line ref Todd Fortune between plays, he and Filho went on another seven-point run, for a second 21-16 victory. Fortune said he felt honored to have been of service. He had never met Cerutti, but had followed his career for years.
Because Cerutti and Filho came up through the contenders bracket (known as the losers bracket in pre-woke times) the teams had to play a decisive third match. The heat took its toll, but not on the aging Cerutti. He and Filho jumped out to a 9-5 lead, and won their fifth game of the day, 21-14, to claim the men’s title.
Fan loyalties in the women’s final were more evenly divided because both teams have strong South Bay ties. Paris Olympian and Hermosa Beach resident Kelly Cheng, was partnered with Molly Shaw, who lives in Redondo Beach, and is the the wife of men’s finalist James Shaw. Their opponents were Megan Rice, and Genna Urango. Rice led Redondo Union High to the CIF State Indoor Volleyball Championships in 2015, and played indoor and beach at Loyola Marymount University. She was the AVP Rookie of the Year in 2023. Urango is a former USC indoor and beach player and 10-year AVP veteran, from Long Beach.
Again, the first game was close at the midpoint, with Cheng and Shaw leading 14-13. But then the 6-foot-2 Cheng’s blocking all but stopped her opponents’ scoring. In the second game Cheng’s blocking was even more decisive. Cheng and Shaw finished both games, 21 to 15, to win the women’s title.
A 4-player, legends exhibition match preceded Sunday’s finals. The legendary team of Tim Hovland and Mike Dodd were on opposite sides of the net. Hovland and Dodd met in 1968 at the U.S. Olympics National Indoor Team training camp in San Diego. Both were cut because the coach felt he couldn’t control beach players. They subsequently formed one of the winningest teams in beach volleyball history. In the 1988-89 season they won 18 AVP matches.
The unlikely teammates have five Manhattan Beach Open bronze plaques on the Manhattan pier, the most of any team.
Fans remember “Hov” for his smack talk, and Dodd as the winner of the AVP Sportsman of the Year and Most Inspirational Player awards. At 38, the lifelong Manhattan Beach resident won the silver medal with Mike Whitmarsh at beach volleyball’s inaugural Olympics in Atlanta in 1996.
On Sunday, true to their reputations Hovland harangued the ref and the fans, while Dodd encouraged his teammates, who included sister-in-law, and former AVP player Carrie Dodd.
Both Hovland and Dodd were relegated to corners in the back rows because of their questionable mobility. As a result, both were mercilessly targeted with the serves.
“They were picking on us,” Dodd jokingly complained after playing a decisive role in his team’s victory. His legs might be shot, but his eyes and arms were in perfect sync on pass after pass. Hovland showed similar passing finesse, calling off teammates who dared encroached on his patch of sand.
Ironically, the game was decided, on a serve by 2000 Sydney Olympic gold medalist Eric “The Bod” Fonoimoana, who was, and still is known not only for his physique, but his precision play. Dodd’s team held match point, at 24-20, when Fonoi targeted him with a blistering jump serve. But instead hitting Dodd, the serve hit Fonoi’s own hitter, Owen Karlen, in the back of the head. Karlen threw his hat angrily in the sand. Fonoi laughed along with the hooting crowd.
After the match, Dodd said the legends exhibition served to bring back old fans while introducing new fans to the sport’s history.
Dodd said he’s often asked how professional beach volleyball can regain the popularity it enjoyed when he was a player, when top players made six-figure livings, and television ratings were better than tennis’ and hockey’s combined.
He said he tells people, “With tournaments like this one, up and down the coast.”
“Players don’t need stadiums. They need opportunities to compete. We used to have 30 tournaments every summer. That’s what will rebuild the fan base.”
He cited the Newport Beach Volleyball Invitational in October, as an example. The four-player beach volleyball tournament is being organized by Dodd’s former AVP rival, Steve O’Bradovich, in partnership with a two-player tournament, with $300,000 in prize money.
Hermosa Beach Open’s Mark Paaluhi and Gary Wedbush said prior to Sunday’s tournament they hope to see California coastal cities, including San Diego, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz, host their own, old school beach volleyball opens. ER
