The East Beach team of Ric Cervantes and Jonah Seif shook up the AVP Manhattan Beach Open early on Friday, beating top-seeded Chase Budinger and Trevor Crabb in the first round of pro beach volleyball’s Granddaddy of all Tournaments.
The 6-foot-8 Seif was a force at the net, posting 20 kills on a .586 hitting average and nine total blocks in an 18-21, 21-16, 15-11 victory.
Seif had five blocks for points and four controlled blocks to go with four service aces against the pair of former Manhattan Open champions — Crabb is a four-time winner, while Budinger won his first title last year with Santa Barbara’s Miles Evans. Budinger and Evans played in the Olympics in 2024
“Those two players are some of the best players ever,” Cervantes told the Daily Breeze of playing Crabb and Budinger. “We had to go out and take it from them, and that’s what we did. … Made some adjustments in the second set, started a little bit more aggressive, targeted a little bit more, and made some more moves on defense.”
The stunning victory was their fourth straight of the tournament. They won three matches in Thursday’s qualifier to make the main draw. They were the lowest seed (25) in the qualifier advance to make it out.
The win streak ended in the next round as Cervantes/Seif fell against Lev Priima/Taylor Hughes in two sets. They bounced back in their first contender’s bracket match, knocking out Mischa Freystaetter/Adam Hartmann in three sets, 19-21, 21-15, 15-11. Seif again put on a show at the net with 13 total blocks.
Next up for Cervantes/Seif is a match against another East Beach local, Will Rottman, and partner Sean Cook at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
Rottman/Cook lost in the first round against Tim Bomgren/Avery Drost in three sets, 17-21, 2-16, 15-10. The won a pair of contender’s bracket matches, the first one 2-0 over Dexter Campbell/Skyler Kaufman and the second by a forfeit against seven-time champion Phil Dalhausser and three-time winner Nick Lucena. Dalhausser suffered a leg injury in the second set and was unable to continue.
Defending champion Evans reached the third round with partner Alex Raghieri of Italy. Their next match is against Priima/Hughes.
On the women’s side, Santa Barbara’s Torrey Van Winden is in the third round with Abby van Winkle. In the second round, they upset third-seeded Melissa Humana-Paredes/Brandie Wilkerson, 21-19, 19-21, 15-12.
Walk of Fame
Evans and Budinger along with 2025 women’s champions Taryn Brasher/Kristen Cruz were honored at the Walk of Fame ceremony on the Manhattan Beach Pier. The winners have plaques etched into the pier walkway.
Evans joins several other Santa Barbara men and women with plaques on the pier: Henry Bergman (two titles), Karch Kiraly (10), Todd Rogers (3), Dax Holdren, Eric Fonoimoana, Theo Brunner, Kathy Gregory (7), Kathy Hanley (3), Diane Sebastian.
