Prep rivals Brown, Ettinger combine for AA title

Current Santa Barbara High star Eve Ettinger joined forces with recent Dos Pueblos graduate Sammie Brown and won the California Beach Volleyball Association women’s A tournament at East Beach on Saturday.

Ettinger, a member of the Dons’ 2008 CIF championship team who will be a senior this coming year, and Brown, who helped DP to the 2009 CIF title and is headed to play at Notre Dame in the fall, defeated Nora Tobin and Nicole Brandt-Young in the final to earn their AA rating.

Brown’s DP teammates Paige Craine and Sally Yingst  and the team of Rachelle Cushman, a former San Marcos star, and Westmont’s Stephanie Dunn finished third to earn their A ratings.

In the men’s AA tournament, Santa Barbarans Matt Schroeder and John Hancock garnered a AAA rating by defeating Charley Newel and Mark Donahue of San Luis Obispo in the championship match.

The third-place finishers were Santa Barbara’s Dillan Bennett and partner Noah Davisson of Orange County and the duo of ex-UCSB player Aaron Richman and Morgan Roberts.

In other beach volleyball action involving local players, Brant “B” Lee and Geoffrey Berz earned A ratings by winning the Will Rogers State Beach B tournament.

K.C. Collins and Michelle Kobashi took fifth at the Will Rogers State Beach women’s AAA tourney.