If the last match on Saturday at the $60,000 AVP Santa Barbara Open is any indication of how Sunday’s final day of action is going to go, then beach volleyball fans are in for real treat.
Defending men’s champions and top-seeded Gage Basey/Thomas Hurst were the last team barely standing at the conclusion of a hot day at East Beach. They needed every ounce of energy in their tank to escape upset-minded Riley Owen/Quin Zilch to advance to the quarterfinals.
Basey/Hurst fought off five match points in a wild and crazy 15-point third set and prevailed against the 15th seed, 24-22, to remain in the tournament. The full match scores were 18-21, 21-17, 24-22.
There was a surprise in the women’s bracket as top-seed Torrey Van Winden of Santa Barbara and Abby Van Winkle were knocked out in the second round by No. 2 Alexis Durish/Audrey Koenig, 21-14, 21-11.
Sunday’s quarterfinals will begin at 9 a.m. at East Beach. The women’s matchups are: Amanda and Lauren Stirvins vs. Ella Connor/Jessica Smith, Ashley Pater/Sarah Wood vs. Piper Ferch/Isabella Martinez, Mary Ludwig/Ines Pirot vs. Zuzanna Kudlik/Kaileigh Truslow and Koenig/Durish vs. Malia Gementera/Taylor Hagenah.
The women’s semifinals are at noon and the championship match at 1:30 p.m.
Basey/Hurst will start Sunday against Enrique Bello/Mischa Freystaetter. The other quarterfinal men’s matches have Gage’s younger brother Lars Basey and Lev Priima vs. Alex Ranghieri/Jack Walmer (UCSB), Seain Cook/Hendrik Mol vs. Avery Drost/Ford Harman of Santa Barbara and local Will Rottman/Ryan Wilcox (UCSB) vs. Mexico’s Carlos Ayala Herrera/Ines Antonio Vargas Iares.
The winners meet in the semifinals at noon, with the final slated at 3 p.m. Admission is free.
In the 15-point, win-by-two deciding set, Basey/Hurst fought back from match points of 17-16, 18-17, 21-20 and 22-21 before finally taking down the tenacious 6-foot-9 Owen and 6-3 Zilch. At 22-all, the defending champions got a break when a Zilch roll show down the line fell inches wide. On the next play, they used a short serve and some scrambling defense to set themselves up for the winning point on a Basey kill before collapsing to the sand.
Basey/Hurst can join some volleyball legends if they can repeat as champions. Other partnerships to accomplish the back-to-back feat at the Santa Barbara Open are Ron Lang/Gene Selznick, Ron Lang/Ron Von Hagen, Greg Lee/Jim Menges, Karch Kiraly/Sinjin Smith (3 straight), Sinjin Smith/Randy Stoklos (twice) and Todd Rogers/Phil Dalhausser (3 straight).
Joining forces for the first time since a California Beach Volleyball Association Open four years in Santa Barbara, Rottman/Wilcox found their groove and won three matches in straight sets on Saturday, two in pool play and the other in the second-round of the playoffs. They defeated Dexter Campell/Ian Carlson, 21-17, 21-18 to advance to Sunday.
“It’s been great,” said Wilcox of the chemistry he and Rottman have formed in a short time. “We didn’t get ton of chances to practice together, so we’re kind of figuring it out as we go. But he’s easy to play with, easy to gel with, so it’s been fun.”
Wilcox said he and Rottman have known each other from being in Santa Barbara at the same time and playing against each other in college (Wilcox at UCSB and Rottman at Stanford).
“Last tournament this season, I figured it’d be fun to run it with him — him being the local guy and me just coming back to my college hometown.”
Mol was making his beach debut in Santa Barbara, but he’s played in town before as a member of the University of Hawai’i men’s indoor team 10-12 years ago.
A native of Standvik, Norway, Mol is playing in a couple of AVP Tour events before immersing himself into preparing for a shot at making Norway’s Beach Volleyball Team for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“This is just my second (AVP tournament),” he said. “I’d love to play more if I have the chance, but I know the next two years are going to be hectic with international stuff since it’s the Olympic qualifier. So I wanted to use this opportunity to play a little bit now.”
He said he’s going to make a run at the Olympics with his cousin Mathias Berntsen. They are part of Norway’s Beach Volley Vikings.
At East Beach, he’s playing with the fiery Scotsman Seain Cook. Cook’s athleticism and energy is a great fit for Mol.
“He gets me fired up, and he just brings good energy to the court,” said Mol of his partner, who lets out huge screams when they make good plays.
“I like that. I need that to get me going sometimes, especially like today. It’s such a warm day and my body feels a bit lethargic, and you really need it to be in order to lock in; you really need to feel fired up and (Seain) does that and that’s good. We found a connection.”
Mol started crushing balls in the second set as he started to receive more serves against Charlie Siragusa/Vinicius Freitas. Mol/Cook rolled a 21-16, 21-12 win to reach the quarterfinals.
They will play Drost/Harman, who won their pool and survived a three-set playoff battle with Robert Kemp/Rouzbeh Rahnavard, 21-15, 19-21, 15-11.
Drost, 40, is planning to retire from the AVP Tour. The Westmont alum has been playing pro events since 2009. Harman was a finalist in this tournament last season with Rottman.
On the women’s side, second Durish/Koenig got some redemption against Van Winden/Van Winkle. The Florida State pair were eliminated by Team VW at the AVP Manhattan Beach Open after running off five straight victories in the loser’s bracket.
Durish said it was unfortunate they had to play the top seeds in the second round, but it worked out that way because Van Winden/Van Winkle finished second in their pool. They beat the UCLA pair of Cora Loomer (San Marcos alum) and Mallory LeBreche in three sets in the first round of playoffs before facing Durish/Koenig, who were pool winners.
“It’s a tough first-round matchup for the playoffs, knowing that they’re the one seed, and we played them in Manhattan Beach and it was a tight match,” Durish said. “We kind of used what we took away from that tournament and it helped us prepare of this matchup today.”
Durish/Koenig, who admit they’re motivated to win the tournament for the RAD Power electric bikes, are coming off a spectacular college season. They went 33-0 on the No. 1 court for Florida State, which reached the NCAA Beach Volleyball semifinals this past spring.
After two years of playing together in college and in pro competitions around the world, Koenig said that experience makes a difference when they’re on the court.
“It definitely helps, but we spend a little too much time together,” she laughed. “A lot of traveling, a lot of long flights, a lot of hotel rooms shared, a lot of time, a lot of meals. I see her more than my actual parents and family.”
This is their first time in Santa Barbara and they’re enjoying it.
“It’s beautiful. I would not complain at all,” said Koenig, who noted the heat without high humidity made it a nice day for them.
The pair play for former UCSB star Brooke Niles at Florida State.
They pointed to the “consistency on our side and really focusing on service pressure,” as keys to their convincing second-round win.
“You kind of have to get a team like that out of system to be able to get some defensive points on them, because they’re a really physical team,” said Koenig. “I think we did a good job moving them around and making our defense unexpected.”
