On an epic summer Saturday, East Beach hosted the 2nd California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) tournament of the year. Both men and women fought for pride and glory to gain their AAA-rating — the highest level an amateur volleyball player can achieve.
In the men’s division, number one seeded men’s team Adam Renfree and Dan Neiman of San Diego met the dynamic twin brothers Nick and Brent Schirippa from Los Angeles in the final. As their seed suggested, Renfree/Neiman walked off the beach all smiles and a new rating after defeating the twin brothers 28-9.
In the women’s division, Karina Gutierrez of Santa Maria and partner Christine Houck of Santa Monica met the local team of Melody Khadavi and Andrea Sanchez to decide the championship. After a hard fought match, Gutierrez/Houck won the match 28-25.
Notable local finishes include Nan Schooley and Lily Bailey in the women’s division finishing in a tie for 3rd.
Local high finishes for the men include Gaucho volleyball stars Phil Mathews and Jeff Menzel, Scott Johnson and Matt Schroeder, and Tim Nestlerode and Shane Cervantes in a tie for 5th place. Rounding out the third place spots were Kanani Leite-Ah Yo and John Hancock as well as SBCC assistant men’s volleyball coach Marcelo Duarte and Dan Terry.
The CBVA comes to town two more times this summer for the Semana Nautica men and women’s open on July 5th along with the annual CBVA Masters tournament for both genders on July 11th and 12th.
