Kerri Walsh couldn’t wait any longer. The burning desire to play beach volleyball was even too much for the new mother to overlook, despite her original plans of foregoing the 2009 season.
After a grueling year of domestic and international competition that was highlighted by the team’s second consecutive Olympic gold medal, Walsh and long-time partner Misty May-Treanor both decided to take this year off to start families. Walsh succeeded when she and husband Casey Jennings – also an AVP standout player – welcomed into the world 8-pound, 10-ounce Joseph Michael Jennings on May 22.
Despite the demands of new motherhood, Walsh’s yearning to return to the sand prompted her to begin training with another new mother and AVP star, Rachel Wacholder, of Redondo Beach. The new team will compete in their first tournament this weekend, the AVP Crocs Slam event Bud Light Hermosa Beach Open, the 10th of 16 stops on the tour.
Qualifying rounds will be played from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, with main draw action beginning tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Courtside ticket prices are reduced for tomorrow’s action ($5 for youth, $10 for adults).
Main draw competition continues Saturday at 7 a.m. with the women’s final scheduled for 1 p.m. The men’s championship match is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m. The Hermosa Open is the third of four Crocs Slam events offering bonuses of $10,000 for first, $7,000 for second and $4,000 for third and fourth place finishes. It is also one of three tournaments broadcast live by NBC Sports.
“I thought I’d take a full year off — I really did,” Walsh said in an interview during the Manhattan Beach Open three weeks ago. “It’s silly, because I knew I’d get the itch to play. I always get it around December. Even though I was pregnant, I still got it in December. I really thought I’d give it a full year off, but it’s been such a long time off, and it’s been good for my head and good for my soul, and I’m ready. We wanted to start a family, but the dream was to have it all — have this baby and bring him around the world, and do it as a team, Casey and I. We’re going to start that dream in Hermosa.”
May-Treanor, who injured her Achilles tendon participating in “Dancing With the Stars” earlier this year, hasn’t played this season. “When she (Misty) said she wasn’t going to play for a year, she definitely meant it,” Walsh said. “She was born into this culture, and she definitely needs a break. She’s really enjoying her time off, and I think she’s ‘breathing’ for the first time in a long time.”
With May-Treanor on hiatus, it provides Walsh an opportunity to catch, or surpass, her former partner for all-time wins for women. Walsh, who will be playing with an experienced teammate, trails May-Treanor’s record of 105 titles by only two victories.
Wacholder is no stranger to championship matches in Hermosa Beach, reaching the finals in her last three appearances. In 2008, Wacholder and partner Tyra Turner missed the Hermosa event when they were in Europe attempting to qualify for the second spot on the U. S. Olympic team.
In the 2007 Hermosa Beach Open, May-Treanor passed Holly McPeak on the all-time winning list for women with her 73rd title when she and Walsh defeated Wacholder and Elaine Youngs in the final. The victory was payback for the previous year when Wacholder and Youngs swept the Golden Girls for the 2006 Hermosa championship, snapping Walsh and May-Treanor’s 38-match winning steak.
Nicole Branagh (Torrance) and Youngs have won six of the nine AVP tournaments this year and are coming off a silver-medal performance at the FIVB World Championship Tour in Klagenfurt, Austria last weekend. They will be pushed by former USC All-Americans Jen Kessy and April Ross, who have won two AVP events and won the bronze medal in Austria after capturing two gold medals in previous FIVB World Championship contests in Europe this year.
Kessy and Ross have competed in six of eight FIVB tournaments and rank third in the world in points accumulated. Angie Akers and Tyra Turner have competed in five events and rank 11th, while Branagh and Youngs have played in only four events and rank 12th.
On the men’s side, Olympic gold medalists Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers have won four AVP events this year, followed by Wacholder’s husband Sean Scott and his partner John Hyden, who have two wins. The teams of John Mayer/Jeff Nygaard, Ty Loomis/Casey Patterson and Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal have one championship each.
Dalhausser and Rogers defeated Brazil to win the gold medal in Austria last weekend and are ranked fourth in the FIVB World Championship Tour point standings. Casey Jennings (Hermosa Beach) and Matt Fuerbringer (Redondo Beach) are ranked 11th and Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal hold the 14th spot.
With all the American teams returning from international competition, the Hermosa Beach Open will mark the deepest field yet this year.
On Sunday, the AVP will honor the late Mike Whitmarsh with a memorial. Whitmarsh, who passed away earlier this year, was a highly respected player who won 28 titles and was an Olympic silver medalist in 1996 with Mike Dodd. Former AVP player Canyon Ceman designed the “Whitty Ball” which will be for sale onsite. Proceeds will benefit the Mike Whitmarsh Memorial Foundation.
For more information, including ticket sales, visit AVP.com.