Champions Crowned at U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball

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

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. (Sept. 26, 2010) – Sean Rosenthal and Aaron Wachtfogel made it two in a row at Manhattan Beach, adding the 2010 U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball championship to their Manhattan Beach Open crown from earlier this year.

Rosenthal and Wachtfogel defeated Matt Prosser and Josh Binstock in the Men’s Open division final of the adult beach volleyball national championship on Sunday afternoon at Manhattan Beach Pier.

In the Women’s Open division final, Brittany Hochevar and Dianne DeNecochea completed an undefeated weekend picking up their first U.S. Open title with a convincing 15-6 win over the Florida-based team of Tara Kuk and Brooke Sweat in the final.

The championship was a rematch of the final of the winners’ bracket held earlier Sunday where Hochevar, from Hermosa Beach, Calif., and DeNecochea, from San Diego, Calif., dominated the Floridians.

The men’s championship match stayed tight until 12-all when Rosenthal came up with a huge block to break the tie and move to 13-12. Match point was set up when Prosser was called for double contact and after an exchange of side outs, Rosenthal made another big block to seal the victory.

Rosenthal, from Redondo Beach, Calif., and Wachtfogel, of Hermosa Beach, Calif., had lost to Binstock, of Canada, and Prosser, from Hermosa Beach, Calif., earlier Sunday in the finals of the winners’ bracket. They took out one of the best teams in pro beach volleyball in the final of the contenders’ bracket when they defeated Sean Scott and Nick Lucena and earned their way back to the final.

“It feels amazing to come back and play the way we played this afternoon,” Rosenthal said after the match. “This whole U.S. Open has been a great time and it was a struggle all day, especially after the loss this morning, but this feels great.”

The Open division championships were the culmination of two days of volleyball action in the fourth annual US Open that brought 700 beach volleyball players for Manhattan Beach. U.S. Open titles were awarded in 14 different divisions.

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List of Winners at the 2010 U.S .Open of Beach Volleyball
Men’s Open: Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and Aaron Wachtfogel (Hermosa Beach, Calif.)
Women’s Open: Dianne DeNecochea (San Diego, Calif.) and Brittany Hochevar (Hermosa Beach, Calif.)
Co-ed Open: Adriano Araiyo (Brazil) and Whitney Pavlik (Laguna Beach, Calif. / Evan Engle (Dana Pointe, Calif.) and Christal Engle (Dana Pointe, Calif.) – final called due to darkness
Men’s AA: David Fisher (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Jack Quinn (Venice, Calif.)
Men’s A: Dillan Bennett (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Nick Clark (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Men’s BB: Jason Marentette (Kalamazoo, Mich.) and Matthew O’Sullivan (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
Men’s B: Bobby Jones (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Jeff Urton (Hermosa Beach, Calif.)
Men’s Masters: Jason Wyrick (Denver, Colo.) and Paige Harrington (Denver, Colo.)

Women’s AA: Jaclyne Jallos (San Diego, Calif.) and Kaui Salzman (San Diego, Calif.)
Women’s A: Helen Reale (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Lucy Han (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Women’s B: Jae Carpenter (Santa Monica, Calif.) and Gabi Sheik (Santa Monica, Calif.)
Women’s Masters: Aimee Richardson (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Julie Chan (San Diego, Calif.)
Co-ed A: Dillan Bennett (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Katie Spieler (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Co-ed B: Masui Allen (Cypress, Calif.) and Etta Jackson (Cypress, Calif.)

Tags: Nick Lucena, Sean Rosenthal, U.S. Open Beach, U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball, Wide Open