Patterson, Loomis Take Home Second Title in Chicago

Media Contact: Tip Nunn
Phone: 303-526-0994
E-mail: TipNunn@comcast.net

CHICAGO, Ill. (Aug. 2, 2010) –  Casey Patterson and Ty Loomis made it two consecutive Corona Light Wide Open wins in a row after they went undefeated in the Men’s Open division title at the Wide Open on July 31-Aug. 1 on Chicago’s North Avenue Beach.

Patterson (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Loomis (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) won the title after a 15-12 win over Adrian Carambula (Miami Beach, Fla.) and Steve Grotowski (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) on Sunday. The pair struggled late in the match, holding match point at 14-7 and Carambula and Grotowski battled back, picking up five unanswered points before Loomis and Patterson were able to close out the match and secure the championship and the $8,000 first place prize.

Patterson and Loomis have played in 13 AVP events over the course of their partnership and have finished in fifth place twice, seventh place twice and ninth place six times. In 2009, the pair won their first title as both individuals and a team on the AVP Tour in Brooklyn.

Carambula and Grotowski pulled off the biggest upset of the weekend Sunday morning, eliminating the heavily favored team of Matt Olson (Cardiff, Calif.) and Kevin Wong (Honolulu, Hawaii) – regulars on the AVP Tour – in the finals of the contenders’ bracket and advance to the championship match.  Olson and Wong had lost earlier in the day to Patterson and Loomis, forcing them to play another match to try and secure a place in the final.

In the Women’s Open division final, Erin Gray (Sugar Grove, Ill.) and Kathryn Babcock (Chicago, Ill.) defeated Angela Lewis (Auburn, Calif.) and Jennifer Snyder (Glendale, Ariz.), 15-9, in the third set.  

Sunday’s final marked the second time the two teams faced each other on the day, as both finished Saturday play undefeated and met in the final of the winner’s bracket Sunday morning. Lewis and Snyder, both of whom have played regularly on the AVP Tour with other sponsors, were victorious. The loss forced Gray and Babcock, who posted a runner-up finish at the Wide Open stop in Galveston earlier in the year, to play one more match to advance to the final.

Action also was held in the Co-ed A division Sunday and saw Ben Shamrokh (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Brooke Viegut  (Hopkins, Minn.) take home the title.

Winners in all of the two-person divisions this weekend in Chicago earn an automatic berth into the 2010 U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball, which will be played Sept. 24-26 in Manhattan Beach, Calif.

The Wide Open now moves on to Long Island New York, before making stops in Breckenridge, Colo. and Point Pleasant, N. J., before wrapping up at the U.S Open of Beach Volleyball.

For more information, visit www.CoronaLightWideOpen.com.  

Winners from the Corona Light Wide Open:

Men’s Open – Casey Patterson (Van Nuys, Calif.) and Ty Loomis (Warner Robins, Ga.)
Women’s Open – Erin Gray (Sugar Grove, Ill.) and Kathryn Babcock (Chicago, Ill.)
Men’s A – Jeff Weckstein (Metuchea, N. J.) and Kyle Thompson (Metuchea, N. J.)
Women’s A – Cathy Cheng (Chicago, Ill.) and Angie Gebert (Chicago, Ill.)
Co-ed A – Ben Shamrokh (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Brooke Viegut (Hopkins, Minn.)
Men’s BB – Jason Marentette (Quincy, Mich.) and Matt O’Sullivan (South Haven, Mich.)
Men’s B – John Krejczyk (Chicago, Ill.) and Steven Sokol (Harbor Point, Mich.)
Co-ed B – Ryan Schultheis (South Bend, Ind.) and Marcia Poliquin (South Bend, Ind.)

Tags: Beach, Beach Volleyball, Wide Open