This past weekend, June 16th – 19th, the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour came to the Big Apple for our New York City Open. The city came down to watch in full force with 25,000 people in attendance, smashing the previous Northeast mark of 18,000 set in 2008. The entire pier was packed with spectators who were thrilled to watch such high-level play.
The four U.S. Olympians were in gold-medal form, as Kerri Walsh Jennings & April Ross and Phil Dalhausser & Nick Lucena were crowned champions. Both finals featured dazzling play on both sides of the net as the capacity
crowd enjoyed world-class beach volleyball along the scenic Hudson River. This is the 50th consecutive win and 10th straight title on the AVP tour for three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings & Olympic silver medalist April Ross as they defeated number two seeds Lane Carico & Summer Ross, 21-16 & 21-18 in an intense battle on Stadium Court, which was televised live on NBC. On the men’s side, this is the third championship AVP title for Olympic gold medalist Phil Dalhausser & future Olympian Nick Lucena, who defeated 8th seeded Jeremy Casebeer & Sean Rosenthal 21-19, 21-12 in a thrilling 50-minute men’s final. The trip to the Big Apple is the 32nd AVP tournament appearance for Dalhausser & Lucena, and Sunday marked their 5th AVP championship match appearance.
The athletes hang up their bathing suits from the weekend but not for long as we head to San Francisco for the next AVP event, June 23rd – 26th.