One local beach volleyball team advanced to Sunday while another missed out in a controversial finish during Saturday’s playoffs of the AVP Next-Santa Barbara Open at East Beach.
The men’s team of Santa Barbara High alums Will Rottman and Ford Harman went 2-0 in pool play and then knocked off Raffi Paulis/Riley Owen in the second-round of single-elimination bracket play (21-19, 21-18) to earn a 9 a.m. quarterfinal matchup against No. 1-seeded Avery Drost/Diego Perez, who also went 3-0 on Saturday.
Drost also has local ties. He is a graduate of Westmont College and learned to play beach volleyball at East Beach.
Dos Pueblos alum Troy Fitzgerald and partner Skyler Kaufman won their first-round playoff match in three sets over Mitchell Keddie/Ben Vaught before falling to No. 2 seed John Schwengel/Logan Webber in straight sets.
On the women’s side, the local pair of Katie Spieler and her cousin Torrey Van Winden lost in the third set against Megan Gebhard/Katie Lindstrom (21-19, 15-21, 17-15) on a referee’s decision and were knocked out of the tournament.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Geena Urango/Mariah Whalen moved into the quarterfinals with three wins on the day. They’ll face Gebhard/Lindstrom on Sunday at 9 a.m. in the quarterfinals.
The second-round playoff match between Spieler/Van Winden and Gebhard/Lindstrom was full of long, lung-busting rallies. In the 15-point third set, Spieler/Van Winden fought back from a 10-6 deficit and tied the score at 10. The local team got to match point (14-12), but Gebhard/Lindstrom won a long rally and scored another point to even the score at 14.
The 6-foot-1 Gebhard hit over Van Winden’s block for a 15-14 advantage. Spieler sided out on the next play but Gebhard/Lindstrom responded to reach match point again at 16-15.
Then came the controversy. In another fierce rally, A diving dig by Spieler launched the ball toward the net. Van Winden hustled to the net, reached high and poked the ball into open court.
Spieler/Van Winden thought they tied the score on the play but a player officiating the match called Van Winden for illegally contacting the ball on the other side of the net. Spieler and Van Winden contested the call but the player-referee stood by her call and the match was over.
It is common in the early rounds of these type of tournaments that the players of the losing team from the previous match on a court officiate and keep score of the next match.
“We’re really unhappy with that call,” said Spieler as she kept score of the next match. “We don’t think it was correct and, to also have it at match point, it’s just not… I think if you win that game or you lose that game, it’s just not a good way to end a great match. So, yeah, we’re definitely not happy on the call.”
Spieler said the only way the call is valid is if the ball is fully on the other side of the net. “Even if one sliver of the ball is on our side, you’re able to to play. We just didn’t think the ball was fully over on that play.
Van Winden added: “It’s also very, very rarely called when it’s our third contact. Normally, that call is made on a blocker who is going up to take the opponent’s opportunity. It was an immature call from a less-experienced player.”
Gebhard, who played collegiate indoor volleyball at MIT, admitted it’s a tough call for a player-referee to make.
“I don’t think any player-ref should have to make that call,” she said. “Obviously, I would hate to see a great game end that way. I don’t know, it’s tough because if (Van Winden) was over (and no call was made) then we would have had a free ball and how do you kind of reconcile that. It’s tough.”
Asked about the conversation between the players and the referee, Lindstrom said, “We tried to let the ref decide.”
Gebhard added: “We just put it in the ref’s hands. I love Katie and Torrey, they’re an amazing team. All the respect to them.”
Spieler said the final call was one of many questionable calls in the match.
“That one felt like they were intentionally calling against us sometimes, and I’ve never been in a match like that,” she said. “And I don’t say that lightly because I think we shouldn’t have made it that close. I think we had so many opportunities but it was a little interesting to be like getting calls the whole time against us.”
While it was unfortunate for the tight match to end on a referee’s decision, both teams put every ounce of energy into the match.
“I just think we played with a bunch of grit,” said Lindstrom, who played college beach volleyball at Louisiana-Monroe. “They’re obviously an amazing team. I feel like we played our hearts out and they did too.”
Rottman/Harman trailed for most of the first set against Owen/Paulis, who earlier defeated the local duo of Mike Stewart/Dylan Foreman. Rottman/Harman broke a 16-16 tie on a hitting error and never trailed again. Rottman poked an overset to make it 18-16 and later crushed a cross-court kill for a 19-17 advantage. At 20-19, Harman scored the set-winning point on an off-speed shot.
In the second set, Rottman/Harman raced out to a 6-2 lead and tough off a late run to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals.
For Harman, this was his first tournament back on East Beach in a long time. He’s been playing in severals events in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.
“I’ve played a ton of tournaments this summer because I was living down there,” he said. “Any tournament that popped up, I just signed up.”
He was a member of the Long Beach State men’s indoor volleyball team that won the NCAA National Championship last spring, but has since transferred to Pepperdine.
“I got into school probably like seven weeks ago and I’ve literally been playing in a beach tournament every weekend,” he said.
When Harman learned about the AVP Next event in Santa Barbara, he immediately thought about playing with Rottman.
“I’ve known Will forever, and I knew the Santa Barbara tournament was a new thing everyone wants to see,” he said. “We literally grew up together here; he’s basically like one of my brothers. I asked him because I wanted a good partner and I wanted to play with somebody from Santa Barbara, because I knew he could get all the Santa Barbara fans together. He said he could play, and I was super pumped.”
Rottman, who had been playing volleyball overseas, said he’s having a blast playing with Harman.
“It’s fun to play with another Santa Barbara local and a rising star.”
It’s also nice to play on the home beach.
“It was pretty special to roll out of bed this morning and not have to wake up at 5:30 and get on the 101. That was good.
“Big props to Jordy (tournament director Jordon Dyer) for putting this on.”
Spieler said she was excited to see an AVP-sanctioned event back in town and the local community getting behind it.
“I think this tournament is super high level and so well-run. I love that they brought in a lot of local ties and they brought in young kids to help shag volleyballs and help out run the tournament. That’s what it’s all about, just bringing every part of the community together. That’s the best part of Santa Barbara and East Beach. I think this is going to be a tournament that keeps growing each year, and we already want it back to have another shot.”
Sunday’s Quarterfinals
Women
Geena Urango/Mariah Whalen vs. Megan Gebhard/Katie Lindstrom, 9 a.m.
Belen Castillo/Izzy Martinez vs. Falyn Fonoimoana/Lindsay Sparks, 9 a.m.
Ella Connor/Erin Inskeep vs. Anaya Evans/Macy Jerger, 10:15
Samantha Parrish/Delaney Peranich vs. Maya Gessner/Katie Reilly, 10:15
Men
Avery Drost/Diego Perez vs. Will Rottman/Ford Harman, 9 a.m.
Robert Kemp/Rouzbeh Rahnavard vs. Kacey Losik/Leo Tuncer, 9 a.m.
Gage Basey/Thomas Hurst vs. Djordje Klasnic/Earl Schultz, 10:15
Cash Adamsen/Dexter Campbell vs. John Schengel/Logan Webber, 10:15
Men’s and women’s semifinals are at 12 p.m., women’s final is at 1:30 p.m. and men’s final at 3 p.m.