A pair of local seasoned veterans in open beach volleyball tournaments used their experience and steady play to win the men’s title at the California Beach Volleyball Association’s Michelob Ultra Premier Tour Santa Barbara Open on Sunday at East Beach.
Ric Cervantes and Jonah Seif, who started playing together in 2021, defeated defending champions Cole Aidnuk/Kyle Baily, 28-23, to claim their first open title together on home sand.
In the women’s final, recent San Marcos graduate Cora Loomer earned her first Santa Barbara Open crown before heading off to UCLA. She partnered with new Bruin teammate Mallory LaBreche and defeated the Stanford combo of Chloe Hoffman (Dos Pueblos alum) and two-time tournament champion Clara Stowell, 28-25.
The tournament, part of Santa Barbara’s Semana Nautica Summer Sports Festival, was held at courts set up in front of the historic Cabrillo Pavilion.
“It’s so amazing just to play in Santa Barbara,” said Loomer after winning a share of the $1,000 prize awarded to the champions. “Being able to win in front of a home crowd and having my family being able to come out and watch, it’s awesome. It’s a really special.”
The home tournament victory adds a cherry to the top of a stellar high school volleyball career on the beach and indoors for Loomer.
Her partner was a freshman on UCLA’s national championship team this past spring. The two knew each other from playing on the same beach volleyball club team but never player together, Loomer said.
“This was our first tournament, and she’s amazing,” she said of LaBreche. “We kind of trained a little bit, but I think throughout the tournament we were able to talk more and be louder and be more cheering and comfortable.”
The pair pulled off an upset in the quarterfinals, outlasting No. 1-seed Elise Lenahan and Logan Walter of Cal Poly, 29-27. They road the momentum from that win and rolled pass Daniella Kensinger/Brooke Woolley, 28-15, in the semifinals before taking on Hoffman/Stowell, who were a late entry into the tournament.
Hoffman sided out to pull her team within one (13-12) before Loomer ignited a three-point run with a blistering kill. LaBreche scored on a deep shot to win a long rally and Loomer followed with a big block for a 16-12 advantage.
Loomer continued to score points on mixture of attacks — a crushing kill, a deep shot into the corner and a stuff block — and the lead expanded to 23-17.
Hoffman, who was an indoor/beach volleyball star at Dos Pueblos (Class of 2023), rallied her side behind tough serving and well-placed hits. She and Stowell narrowed the deficit to 26-24 before Loomer sided out. Hoffman got one point back but Loomer closed out the match and celebrated her first East Beach open division championship.
Cervantes/Seif battled past two local teams (Dylan Foreman/Troy Fitzgerald and Matteo Burdick/Keanu Nguyen) to reach the final and never let up in dethroning Aidnuk-Baily.
Terrific transition play from Cervantes sparked a 3-0 run that gave the home team a commanding 23-15 lead in the final. He put the ball away on two for the first point of the run and converted back-to-back dig-to-kill plays.
“In all honesty, I just wanted to enjoy the day with my friend and that’s where I’m at,” said Cervantes about being on the court with Seif. “I’m here with my wife, we have a kid on the way and I just love playing with Jonah; that’s all I care about, that was my focus.”
Cervantes, who won the tournament in 2023 with Will Rottman, said he still relishes the competition.
“I love doing this. You never know when it’s going to end and I just want to enjoy it.”
Cervantes/Seif got a look at the future stars of East Beach volleyball in the semifinals as they played Burdick and Nguyen, seniors at San Marcos. They advanced after a wild 33-31 marathon quarterfinal win over San Marcos alum Jack Wilson and SBCC standout Mykolas Petraitis.
“They’re great,” said Seif of Burdick/Nguyen. “Every tournament they play in they get to the semis. They’re up and coming for sure but they’re good right now.”
Cervantes is impressed with their work ethic. “They’re down here at 6:30 in the morning, grinding. And it shows. They’re playing really well and I’m super happy for them.”
Down the stretch of their quarterfinal battle, Burdick/Nguyen and Wilson/Petraitis were knotted up six times: at 23, 25, 28, 29, 30 and 31.
Nguyễn gave his team the lead for good on a one-over dig. On the next play, he made a diving dig in the back of the court, hustled back to the net and put away a cut shot for the 33-31 victory and a berth in the semifinals.
Nguyen said he was feeling tired on Sunday after returning home from Orlando, Fla., where he played for his indoor club team at the week-long AAU Junior Nationals.
“I think honestly we didn’t play our best today. We played but we were tired from our Orlando tournament. But with the East Beach crowd rallying us, we played as hard as we can and snuck out a couple of wins in the playoffs.”
