Apparently there are no rain-makeup dates for a final in the AVP.
In the season-opening tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Fla, on Sunday, rain washed out the men’s title match between Santa Barbara’s Todd Rogers-Phil Dalhausser and Matt Fuerbringer-Nick Lucena.
Since both teams were undefeated in the tournament the AVP decided to name them co-champions of the AVP Nivea Tour Gatorade Fort Lauderdale Open. They each were awarded $17,500, a split difference between combined first- and second-place money.
The women managed to get their final in, albeit in a shower, and the new team of Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh defeated Angie Ackers and Tyra Turner, 21-14, 21-16. The winners pocketed $20,000.
For May-Treanor, the title raised her all-time to 106 in her career. The victory also marked the first time since 2002 that a new team on the women’s tour won in its debut. The last team to do it was Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs in Huntington Beach.
Akers-Turner won three matches Sunday to advance out of the contender’s bracket. One of the teams they knocked out was former UCSB star Brooke Hanson and Lisa Rutledge.
Lucena, a Fort Lauderdale native, who began his AVP career with Dalhausser and trained in Santa Barbara, gave his hometown fans a lot to cheer about. He and Fuerbringer, the sixth seed, scored a dramatic upset of No. 2 John Hyden and Sean Scott in three sets (21-18, 17-21, 17-15) to reach the semifinals. They faced a match point in the third set but managed to fight back and win.
“We weren’t worried at all. Not at all,” Lucena told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. “We know we can score points. We just kept our composure the whole time. It’s our first tournament. We’re learning and I think we’ll get better.”
In Sunday morning’s semis, Fuerbringer-Lucena defeated 13th-seeded Billy Allen and Braidy Halverson 23-21, 21-12.
Top-seeded Dalhausser-Rogers eliminated rivals Hyden-Scott, 22-20, 21-17, in the other semifinal.
The men’s cancellation was the first on the AVP tour since 1996, new commissioner Mike Dodd said. It deprived South Florida fans of a storybook finish with Lucena playing for a title against Dalhausser, with whom he won his only AVP title in 2005.
“It was a good weekend. Everything but the final chapter,” Lucena said. “We’ll go home and celebrate a little bit. We’ve got to play again Thursday in Brazil, so we’ll just start over.”
Lucena-Fuerbringer will join 2008 Olympic champions Dalhausser-Rogers and a few other AVP teams in the international beach volleyball tour opener in Brasilia, Brazil this weekend.
The next AVP tournament will be in Santa Barbara at West Beach, April 29-May 2. The qualifier is set for Thursday, April 29, and the main draw starts Friday at 9 a.m. The championship matches are Sunday at 2:30 p.m. for the men (televised on ESPN2) and 4:30 for the women.
There also will be a collegiate women’s doubles championship being contested at West Beach on May 1-2.
