CINCINNATI — Former UCSB star Brooke Hanson and Lauren Fendrick capped a dominating three days of play by winning the 2011 U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball on Sunday.
Seeded second in the tournament, Hanson-Fendrick defeated No. 4 Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik, 21-19, 21-17, in the final and finished the tournament without a loss.
“This feels great and it’s nice to win this at home,” said Hanson, who’s been playing overseas in the FIVB World Tour. “There’s been a great crowd here. My partner (Lauren Fendrick) played unbelievable today and we’re just thankful to be here.”
The Fendrick-Hanson team and men’s champions John Hyden and Sean Scott team each earned a purse of $22,500.
Hyden-Scott beat Ty Loomis and Mark Williams in the final, 21-17, 21-18. Hyden-Scott came back after falling to Loomis-Williams in the quarterfinals.
“This feels great,” Scott said after the win. “Ty (Loomis) and Mark (Williams) really took it to us yesterday so we knew we had to step up and serve tougher today. We were able to pull off the win today and I just feel really satisfied right now.”
Hyden and Scott played their way into the championship game, taking down the top-seeded team of Matt Fuerbringer and Nick Lucena in the semifinals, 21-15, 18-21 and 15-9.
