Local pro beach volleyball players will be playing in Friday’s qualifier of the second event of the AVP Champions Cup in Long Beach.
The AVP canceled its season due to coronavirus pandemic, but came up with a three-tournament series called the Champions Cup. The tournaments are being played without fans in attendance at a constructed facility.
The second tournament is called the Wilson Cup. The winners of last week’s first tournament, Monster Hydro Cup, were Nick Lucena/Phil Dalhausser for the men and April Ross/Alix Klineman for the women.
Friday’s Wilson Cup women’s qualifier will include Santa Barbara’s Katie Spieler and Carly Wopat, both Dos Pueblos alums. Spieler and partner Delaney Knusden Mewhirter open against Kim DiCello and Kendra van Zwieten at 10:25 a.m.; Wopat and Brittany Tiegs take on Kimberly Hildreth and Sarah Schermerhorn at 9:20 a.m..
The local players in the men’s qualifier are Avery Drost (Westmont alum), with partner Ryan Doherty, and Miles Evans (Dos Pueblos, SBCC, UCSB), partnering with Ricardo Santos. Drost/Doherty face Madison McKibbin/Riley McKibbin at 8:15 a.m., while Evans/Santos take on Bill Kolinkse/Mark Burik at the same time.
The local teams need three wins to advance to Saturday’s main draw.
In the men’s main draw, Theo Brunner (UCSB) and Casey Patterson are the fifth-seeded team, and Santa Barbara High alum Jeremy Casebeer and partner John Hyden are sixth.
The Wilson Cup will offer $200,000 prize purse, and teams throughout the qualifiers will be paid out.
The matches will be shown live on Amazon Prime Video throughout the weekend. NBC Sports Network will show the finals on Sunday, July 26, at 8:30 p.m.
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.