Friends off the court and rivals on the hardwood, Mira Costa’ Skylar Caputo and Redondo’s Abril Bustamante renewed their partnership on the sand to win their second consecutive California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) Youth Cal Cup championship held on Labor Day at Manhattan Beach.
The duo captured the girls 16-under crown last summer and won the 18-under title this year with a 28-18 win over Long Beach’s Nicci Hinderaker and Utah’s Samantha Thomas.
“Winning the Cal Cup was one of our goals this summer,” said Caputo, who was in Nanjing, China the previous week competing in the Youth Olympic Games. “Abril and I started our partnership at the Cal Cup in the 16’s and we’re going for the three-peat next year. We’re not going to play indoor club ball but focus on the beach year round with a lot of CBVA Open and AAA tournaments.”
Caputo and Zana Muno, of Hermosa Beach, reached the quarterfinals at the Youth Olympic Games where they fell to Canada in three sets.
“Winning the Cal Cup for me was a great way to close the junior season,” Bustamante said. “This was definitely one of my goals for the summer and I am very happy we won it. It is a great tournament where you need to finish first in one of ten CBVA tour stops. Skylar and I only had one day this summer where we could go and try to qualify — that was at Doheny Beach – and we won it so we were happy to compete in the Cal Cup against 10 really great teams.”
Bustamante has played with numerous partners during her career but has a special bond with Caputo.
“Skylar and I have that chemistry that is hard to find,” Bustamante said. “I trust her and respect her so much and I know she gives all she has. Also, we understand each other very well and if I get down during the game or if I get frustrated with myself she knows how to bring me back into the game and vice versa.”
Caputo’s Mira Costa teammate, Emma Smith, also walked away with a championship. Smith and Thousand Oaks’ Sammy Slater captured the 16-under crown with a 28-20 win over Thousand Oaks’s Natalie Anselmo and Aliso Viejo‘s Kathryn Plummer.
With the scored tied 4-4, Smith and Slater recorded the next 15 of 18 points to pull ahead. In the semifinals, the fought back from a 6-1 deficit to defeat San Clemente’s Lily Dyer and Laguna Niguel’s Marisa Ramsey 28-20.
Huntington Beach’s T.J. DeFalco, of Huntington Beach, also claimed a title after representing the U.S. at the Youth Olympic Games where he paired with Redondo Beach’s Louis Richard.
DeFalco and Parsa Rezvani, of Cupertino, won the boys 18-under title, defeating the Redondo Beach team of Eric Beranek and Tanner Smith in the finals.
Santa Barbara’s Kyle Skinner and Moraga’s Gage Worsley captured the boys 16-under crown with a win over Rancho Palos Verdes’ Luke Nassif and Rancho Santa Margarita’s James Thomas.
In the Boy’s 14U division, Dane Johnson and Ethan Shinn defeated Bobby Barkley and Luke Grafton in the championship game.
Gabriel Dyer and Aaron Phan won the Boy’s 12U title with a win over Miles Partain and Shane Selznick.
Lindsey Sparks and Abby Van Winkle defeated Rachel Ahrens and Gabriella Bellizzi to win the Girl’s 14U crown and Ashley McManus and Kylie Pries beat Makenna Gaeta and Aislyn Xanthos in the Girl’s 12U final.
Preceding the youth tournaments, Hermosa and Manhattan Beaches hosted various division of competition on Saturday and Sunday, providing longtime CBVA participant Paul Viggiano the opportunity of a lifetime.
The 58-year-old Viggiano partnered with his 15-year-old son, Paul Jr., to win the Men’s Unrated championship.
“It was very special to win that tourney with my son,” Viggiano said, noting he was 43 when Paul Jr. was born. “As an older dad, I wasn’t sure if I’d still be physically capable of playing competitively with my son. After the tournament I told him that when I was single I had always dreamed of playing in a tournament with my child. It was a bit of a dream come true. It was also enjoyable to see that he had the mental strength to win a tournament. We had to win seven straight games against adult teams and he was dialed in the whole time. It was very fun.”
Paul Sr. went to elementary school in Hermosa and Redondo and attended Redondo Union High School before there was a volleyball team. He played indoor volleyball at Long Beach State and on the beach in CBVA open tournaments and on the AVP tour.
He coached volleyball at Redondo Union from 1980-86 and at El Camino College from 1987-1992. Viggiano returned as Redondo Union’s coach in 1995.
“I hired Tommy Chaffins as my assistant and then handed the program over to his more than capable hands in 2000 or 2001,” Viggiano said.
Paul Jr. is following in his dad’s footsteps. A sophomore at Redondo Union, he is playing on the Sea Hawk’s frosh-soph beach volleyball team that competes in the Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League (IBVL) and was the MVP of Redondo’s frosh/soph indoor team last season.
Other men winning Cal Cup titles included Kyle Skinner/Gage Worsley (AA), Joerg Mueller/Luka Rejc (A), Parsa Rezvani/Christopher McDonald (B).
Women winning their respective division included Marla Ricketts/Deketa Stubblefield (AA), Melanie Ghiz/Elizabeth Hansel (A), Camryn Carfino/Sarah Waters (Unrated).
Kendall Bateman and Louis Stauber took top honors in the Co-ed Unrated tournament.
For complete results, visit cbva.com.
