Beach Stars to Shine at AVP Tour Opener

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org   

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 16, 2010) – The 2010 AVP Nivea Tour starts this weekend in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Headlining the teams scheduled to compete are two-time Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and new partner, 2008 Olympian Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.). Kerri Walsh (Saratoga, Calif.), May-Treanor’s partner for the last nine years, is taking time off while expecting her second child in May.

Branagh’s former partner, three-time Olympian and bronze medalist Elaine Youngs (El Toro, Calif.) has reunited with her former partner, Rachel Wacholder (Laguna Beach, Calif.). Wacholder was last seen playing with Walsh at 2009 AVP events while May-Treanor recovered from an Achilles tendon injury suffered while competing on Dancing with the Stars.

Other formidable teams competing in Fort Lauderdale include reigning FIVB world champions Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) along with Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Florida resident Tyra Turner (Fort Myers Beach).

On the men’s side, 2008 Olympic gold medalists Phil Dalhauser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) are back to defend their 2009 Tour championship. They are the top seeds, followed by John Hyden (Pensacola, Fla.) and Sean Scott (Kailua, Hawaii) at No. 2; Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) at No. 3 and 2008 Olympians Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) at No. 4.

Competition actually began Friday with the qualifying rounds and continues Saturday and Sunday with main draw competition.

To view the AVP’s official event preview, click here.

The women’s final will be shown at 5:30 ET on Sunday (April 18) on ESPN2, ESPN 2 HD and ESPN 3.

UniversalSports.com will show the men’s final at 10-11:30 p.m. on Sunday (April 18).

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, AVP, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Elaine Youngs, Jake Gibb, Jennifer Kessy, Kerri Walsh, Misty May-Treanor, Nick Lucena, Nicole Branagh, Phil Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Sean Scott, Todd Rogers, Tyra Turner