From June 23rd to 26th beach volleyball traveled to the City by the Bay for the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball San Francisco Open. The event marked the Tour’s first action in San Francisco since 2009. In the second to last AVP event before the 2016 Olympics, two teams showed why they will be representing the USA in Rio. Top seeds April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings and Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson capped an exciting four days of action at the AVP San Francisco Open with championship wins on Sunday at The Embarcadero Pier 30/32 right next to the iconic Bay Bridge.
In the nationally-televised women’s final on NBC, Ross and Walsh Jennings were crowned the AVP San Francisco Open Champions when they beat the inaugural NCAA Beach National Championship team from USC Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes 21-17, 21-13 after holding off the challenge of Emily Day and Brittany Hochevar 21-13, 21-18 in the semifinals earlier in the day. Claes and Hughes, who had advanced through Thursday’s qualifiers as the #13 seed and #1 Qualifier seed, who won the first set off Ross/Walsh Jennings in Main Draw play on Saturday snapping the Olympians 66 consecutive set winning streak, earned their spot in the finals with a 21-15, 23-21 win over second-seeded Lane Carico and Summer Ross Sunday morning. The championship is the 12th on the AVP Tour for Ross/Walsh Jennings in 13 events together. For Ross, it is the 14th AVP title in her last 15 starts, with three different partners. The San Francisco Open was the 5th AVP tournament for Claes/Hughes and their first ever final appearance.
In men’s action, Gibb and Patterson topped the #2 seeded brothers Taylor and Trevor Crabb 18-21, 21-15, 15-10 for the title. In a pair of spirited three-set semifinals earlier in the day, the champs had upended #5 seed John Mayer and Stafford Slick 16-21, 21-17, 15-13 while the Crabbs had bounced qualifiers Ty Loomis and Marty Lorenz 21-16, 24-26, 15-12. Playing their 25th AVP tournament together, Gibb/Patterson’s championship win on Sunday now marks 12 AVP wins for the duo. Sunday’s final appearance marked the 10th time the Crabb brothers have played together on the AVP tour and their 3rd time playing in the finals this season.