It’s going to be a hot time at East Beach this weekend, and it’s not just due to the weather.
The AVP is back in town and the action on the volleyball courts will be fast and furious as professional and semi-pro men’s and women’s doubles teams battle for three days in pursuit of a $60,000 total prize purse at the Santa Barbara Open, an AVP Contender Series tournament.
Gage Basey and Thomas Hurst return to defend their men’s championship. On the women’s side, “Team VW” — Santa Barbara’s Torrey Van Winden and partner Abby Van Winkle — are the top seed after finishing third at the prestigious AVP Manhattan Beach Open in August.
Competition begins Friday with a men’s qualifier — 26 teams battling in a single-elimination event to fill the last eight spots in the 32-team main draw on Saturday.
The final 32-team field in both genders will compete in pool play Saturday morning (starting at 9 a.m.) followed by early single-elimination playoffs rounds.
“There will be non-stop volleyball action on 16 courts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” said Santa Barbara’s Jordon Dyer, who is co-directing the tournament with John King, the AVP Pro Tour Competition Director, and co-producing the event with 805 Beach business partner Ariana Garner.
The playoffs continue Sunday at 9 a.m., with the championship games in the afternoon. The tournament is free to attend.
The men’s and women’s champions will take home $10,000 and RAD Power electric bikes, and payouts will be made through ninth place ($5,000 for second, $2,700 for third, $1,200 for fifth and $600 for ninth) in one the largest prize packages for a Santa Barbara tournament in several years.
The AVP Santa Barbara Open is presented by Jones Trading and hosted by 805 Beach and the Santa Barbara Volleyball Club.
The return of Basey/Hurst adds more pizazz to an already loaded men’s field. The 22-year-olds made history at the AVP Manhattan Beach Open, becoming the lowest seed (12th) to ever advance to the title match. They lost against second-seeded Andy Benesh and Taylor Crabb in straight sets.
Dyer was thrilled to learn that Basey/Hurst were coming back to East Beach. They’ve played all over the country and abroad, and recently won the AVP Aspen Mother Lode Tournament in Basey’s home state of Colorado.
“My initial reaction was that it’s going to be really fun watching those guys put on a show again,” he said. “Their style of play is unlike anything traditional volleyball fans have seen, especially at such a high level. They have a great easy-going demeanor and create something exciting almost every other play, and are extremely skilled.
“If you come down and watch, I guarantee you’ll have a few jaw-dropping moments and you’ll be asking yourself: ‘How’d they pull that off?’”
Basey/Hurst have been playing partners since they were teens. They play fast and famously use jump sets to throw off opponents. Hurst wears a fedora when he plays, making the team extremely recognizable at tournaments.
In last year’s Santa Barbara Open final, they beat Santa Barbara High alums Will Rottman and Ford Harman, who are entered this year with different partners. Rottman is playing with former UC Santa Barbara indoor volleyball star Ryan Wilcox; they are seeded second behind Basey/Hurst.
Wilcox won the AVP Contenders Series event in Denver with Gaucho teammate Theo Brunner in early July and he’s coming off a fifth place at the AVP Laguna Beach Open with James Shaw. He also played in the AVP League competition this summer.
Harman is paired up with longtime AVP player and Westmont alum Avery Drost and seeded sixth. They won a AVP Contenders Series event last year in Virginia Beach.
There is plenty of local star power in the tournament, Dyer noted. “We have some great local talent with a solid chance of performing well.”
The veteran East Beach team of Ric Cervantes/Jonah Seif had a memorable summer on the sand. They won the California Beach Volleyball Association Santa Barbara Open in July and stunned the beach volleyball world by coming out of the qualifier and upsetting No. 1 seed Chase Budinger/Trevor Crabb in the first round of the main draw at the AVP Manhattan Beach Open, volleyball’s Granddaddy of Tournaments.
While Cervantes and Seif are the OGs at East Beach, Matteo Burdick and Keanu Nguyen are the new kids on the sand. The San Marcos High seniors have proven they can play with anyone. They took third at the CBVA Santa Barbara Open and won a Highline Tour open tournament at East Beach in late July.
Leading with women’s side of the tournament is Van Winden. She is the cousin of local beach standout Katie Spieler. Van Winden and Van Winkle have done well as a team. In addition to their third place at the Manhattan Beach Open, they placed ninth in an international event in Rio de Janeiro.
Emma Zuffelato (SBHS alum, Cal Poly senior beach player) and Cora Loomer (San Marcos alum, UCLA Beach freshman) figure to be in the playoff mix. Loomer is playing with UCLA teammate Mallory LeBreche; they have CBVA Open wins at the Semana Nautica Santa Barbara event and at Ocean Park in Santa Monica.
Zuffelato is playing with Cal Poly teammate Maddy Byrne.
Other women’s teams to watch include the Florida State pair of Alexis Durish/Audrey Koenig, Marine Kinna (France)/Chloe Loreen and Ella Conner/Jessica Smith.
Durish/Koenig, the No. 2 seed, went 33-0 on the No. 1 court for Florida State this season. They also played overseas and won World Volleyball Tour events in China and India this year; at this summer’s AVP Manhattan Open, they advanced out of the qualifier, lost their first-round main draw match and then reeled off five wins in the contender’s bracket before being eliminated by Van Winden/Van Winkle.
Third-seeded Kinna and Loreen won twice together on the AVP Tour in 2025. A beach standout at LMU, Kinna has a second and third in AVP events this year and a second on the FIVB international tour.
Connor is coming off a win at the AVP Mother Lode, while Smith captured the Volleyball Canada Beach Nationals. She and Connor finished second at the World University Games Trials in May.
The women’s field will also include future beach stars: high schoolers Brooke Canaday (sophomore at Coastal Christian in Pismo Beach) and Ella Buchanan (junior at San Luis Obispo High). They won an open tournament in Santa Cruz in August.
The tournament will have an international flavor with Norway’s Hendrik Mol and Scotland’s Seain Cook joining forces, Mexican National Team members Carlos Andres Ayala Herrera and Ines Antonio Vargas Lares and Italian Olympian Alex Ranghieri playing with UCSB’s Jack Walmer. Ranghieri took a fifth at the Manhattan Beach Open with Goleta’s beach volleyball Olympian Miles Evans.
Men’s Top 10 Seeds
- Gage Basey/Thomas Hurst
- Will Rottman/Ryan Wilcox
- Seain Cook/Hendrik Mol
- Charlie Siragusa/Hagen Smith
- Lars Basey/Lev Priima
- Avery Drost / Ford Harman
- Carlos Andres Ayala Herrera/Ines Antonio Vargas Lares
- Marcus Carvalhaes/Djordje Klasnic
- Enrique Bello/Mischa Freystaetter
- Alex Ranghieri/Jack Walmer
Women’s Top 10 Seeds
1. Torrey Van Winden/Abby Van Winkle
2. Alexis Durish/Aubrey Koenig
3. Marine Kinna/Chloe Loreen
4. Piper Ferch/Isabella Martinez
5. Ashley Pater/Sarah Wood
6. Halie Hunt/Natalie Myszkowski
7. Belén Castillo/Madison Shields
8. Ella Connor/Jessica Smith
9. Lindsey Jin/Renata Lechien
10. Delaney Peranich/Kate Reillty
