Beach volleyball open returns

Rachel Wacholder returned this week to the site of one of her most stirring victories in professional beach volleyball.

Beginning today and running through Sunday on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier, the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Crocs Tour touches down in Surf City with the Cuervo Gold Crown Huntington Beach Open.

The event begins with today’s qualifier and continues Saturday and Sunday.

The men’s final is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, followed at 3:30 p.m. by the women’s final.

Last August, Wacholder and teammate Elaine Youngs swept past Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh in the women’s final.

The triumph came before a lively, standing-room-only crowd in excess of 5,000 that included family members of Wacholder and Youngs, both of whom have Orange County roots.

Wacholder starred in volleyball at Laguna Beach High (class of 1993), and Youngs did the same at El Toro.

Youngs and Wacholder defeated May-Treanor and Walsh four times last year. They were the only team to defeat the world’s No. 1 team both domestically and internationally.

“I guess you could say it’s the closest thing to a rivalry in the women’s volleyball,” Wacholder said.

Wacholder and Youngs started the 2006 tour slowly, Wacholder said, earning one second-place and a pair of third-place finishes in the first three tour events of the year, which began on March 31 with the Fort Lauderdale Open.

May-Treanor and Walsh have won all three women’s opens in 2006, and with a victory last week in Santa Barbara, the duo became the first women’s team in beach volleyball history to win a 50th career team title.

“Elaine and I really are looking forward to playing in Huntington,” Wacholder said. “We played our best tournament there last year.

“It’s a tournament that’s close to home for both of us, and my entire family will be out there, rooting us on. It’s a special place to play.”

In the men’s competition last year, Karch Kiraly, the winningest player in professional beach volleyball history and the men’s leader in Huntington Beach Open titles with three, teamed with Mike Lambert for an unbeaten run en route to the men’s title. Kiraly and Lambert defeated Larry Witt and Sean Rosenthal in the final.

Beginning Saturday, the team of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser will be out to win a third straight men’s tournament of the 2006 tour. Rogers and Dalhausser won the Santa Barbara Open and Tempe Open in the last three weeks.

Dain Blanton, a 1990 graduate of Laguna Beach High and 2000 Olympic gold medalist, teamed with Kevin Wong of Honolulu last year and finished in sixth place. They were eliminated from title contention last year by the team of Rosenthal-Witt.

Blanton is teamed this year with Eric Fonoimoana, his teammate at the 2000 Summer Olympics. The pair finished in a four-way tie for ninth place last week at the Santa Barbara Open.

Leonard Armato, the association’s commissioner, wants to begin the Memorial Day weekend in Huntington Beach with a bang.

“We want nothing better than for Huntington Beach to be a rockin’ event,” he said. “Huntington Beach is a great setting for beach volleyball. Through the years, we’ve had tremendous fan support there.”cpt.26-spvolley-CPhotoInfoTD1RA97P20060526izsmatncMARK DUSTIN / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Rachel Wacholder takes a knee and slides in the sand to pass the ball in a match at last year’s AVP Huntington Beach Open.