The last So Cal visit by the Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) of the season was spiced with the dramatic break-up of No. 2 team on the women’s tour.
The historic Manhattan Beach Open saw the most dominant team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh relieved of the pressure from Elaine Youngs and Rachel Wacholder who have been the only AVP challengers to defeat the 2004 gold medalists.
But after a shouting-match at an international tournament in July, the duo parted company and Youngs teamed up with Nancy Mason and Wacholder partnered with Jennifer Boss at Manhattan August 11 though 13.
The champions May/Welsh coasted to another $25,000 victory.
In the third round it seemed the door to the finals was opened when Dianne DeNechochea and Tammy Leibl defeated Youngs and Mason in a two-game match.
But in the semi-finals, the best women’s team in San Diego, DeNecochea/Leibl battled to a three game loss 15-21, 21-19, 15-12 in 1 hour, 14 minutes to Youngs/Mason.
DeNecochea/Leibl earned third place prize money while Youngs/Mason went on national TV less than a half hour later and were quickly defeated by May/Welsh.
“It’s fun to play at such a high level and be successful,” DeNecochea said. “We are getting stronger and talking better on the court. We will make it to a finals soon.”
The 38-year-old DeNecochea is a mother of two and lives with her husband Joel in Bay Park. Leibl is the oldest player on tour at 41. She is a veteran of the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Olympic indoor teams and played with DeNecochea on the Bud-4 tour in the 1990s. She lives in Del Mar.
DeNecochea/Leibl were seeded 6 and finished 3rd.
The team of Denise Johns and Alicia Polzin of San Diego were seeded 12 and finished 9th at Manhattan. The key to their success appeared to be repeating their motto during each game ” “Be aggressive.”
“The safe thing is not going to work against better teams,” Polzin said. “We have to serve hard and make good passes so we can maybe put it over on 2.”
Polzin also credited good communication on and off the court with their ability to overcome tough opponents.
Taken out of the winner’s bracket by Olympians Jenny Johnson-Jordan and Annett Davis, Johns/Polzin earned three victories before being taken out by veteran Barbra Fontana and Carrie Dodd.
Down 3-9 in their fourth match they rallied to a 21-19, 22-20 victory over Brooke Hanson and Logan Tom.
Johns has dual British citizenship. The weekend before Manhattan, she had just returned from an international FIVB tournament in Korea representing Great Britain.
Other San Diego women who qualified to play with the best on the beach in Manhattan included Angela McHenry, Beth Van Fleet, Erin Byrd and Janelle Koester.
On the men’s side of the tournament Hans Stolfus out of SDSU finished in seventh place with new partner Aaron Wachtfogel of Hermosa Beach.
Stolfus was rookie of the year in 2005.
Other men’s players battling in the sand included popular local Mission Beach regular Pepe Delahoz partnered with Leonardo Moraes. Chris Magill playing with Brian Corso also qualified into the tournament.
The men’s champions at Manhattan were Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser who picked up their fifth victory this year. Rogers was voted the best setter and best defensive player in 2005. The shaved-headed Dalhausser is 6 feet 9 inches tall.
The AVP next heads to Coney Island, Boulder, Cincinnati, Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe.
Information about the AVP, tournaments and players is available at their Web site, www.avp.com.