After competing in nine international and three domestic tournaments, Hermosa Beach resident Casey Jennings made the most of his time at home, capturing the Jose Cuervo Pro Beach National Championships with first-time partner Pedro Salgado.
With assistance from beach volleyball great Mike Dodd, who served as coach, the fourth-seeded team of Jennings and Salgado defeated top-seeded Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal (Hermosa Beach) twice en route to winning the Hermosa Beach Open.
Jennings and Salgado sent Gibb and Rosenthal to the Contender’s Bracket after a hard-fought 21-17, 19-21, 21-19 win, temporarily quieting the contingency of Rosenthal’s raucous fans known as Rosie’s R8drs who were in full force to support the Redondo Beach native who recently moved back to the South Bay after living in Corona Del Mar the last few years.
After a 21-14, 21-14 thrashing of Paul Baxter and Pedro Brazao, Jennings and Salgado were once again faced with playing the world’s 8th-ranked team.
The second match between the teams ended with Jennings and Salgado sweeping their opponents 21-18, 21-17 for each player’s first championship of the season. Salgado has been competing for Brazil on the international circuit.
“We’ve haven’t been home for more than ten days this summer,” Jennings said. “It feels good to be home and it means everything to win a final. I’m so proud to bring Pedro to my backyard. He is one of the best players in the world. I love Rosie and Gibb but they had their shot and I want mine.”
Salgado added, “I have never played in a tournament like this. I’m so glad to be here. I had so much fun today and I will never forget it.”
The win was Jennings’ first in Hermosa Beach since 2005 when he won the title with Matt Fuerbringer. Jennings’ wife Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh, who also won in Hermosa in 2005, cheered her husband on throughout the weekend, accompanied by their two sons Joseph and Sundance.
The victory was a nice homecoming for Jennings and Walsh, who is in rehabilitation after undergoing shoulder surgery. Hopefully, the win will provide inspiration for Kevin Wong, who Jennings teamed with during international competition on the FIVB tour this year but was in the broadcast booth last weekend. Ranked 35th in the world, Jennings and Wong are slated to compete in Morocco this weekend.
“I’m still trying to qualify for the Olympics and it’s really up to Kevin,” Jennings said. “We’re still in the running and if he wants to play, then we’ll play, otherwise I’ll look for another partner.”
On the women’s side, the top-seeded team of April Ross and Jen Kessy showed why they are No. 5 in the international rankings, defeating fourth-seeded Jenny Kropp (Hollyglen) and Whitney Pavlik 21-12, 21-16 in the championship match.
“We played Whitney and Jenny several times and have lost to them several times, including the match this morning,” said Ross. “We didn’t want that to happen again. With this being our last tournament, we brought out the jump serves because we had nothing to lose.”
Kessy added, “To play in front of all of the fans, our family and friends fed our adrenaline. We’re so happy to be here. Plus, with Geeter (Chris “Geeter” McGee, the MC), it just felt right. April is a trooper. She was sick all week and played as well as she did, so I wanted to do a well for her. We really want this event to work and have this long relationship with USA Volleyball, Jose Cuervo and IMG.” ER
