Seeking a lasting relationship

Richard Dunn

Brian Lewis would just like to keep a partner around this season on

the Association of Volleyball Professionals Tour.

Lewis, the Corona del Mar High and Orange Coast College product, went

through a whirlwind 1999 with shuffling co-workers on the two-man pro

beach circuit, which starts today in the Sunkist AVP Tournament of

Champions at Delray Beach, Fla.

“I had a disastrous year last year,” said Lewis, who missed playing time

for good (the birth of his first child) and bad reasons (injuries), but

still managed to finish seventh on the AVP Tour rankings and earn $45,250

-- chump change compared to the days when the tour boasted of nearly $4

million in total prize money.

Lewis, nevertheless, is still riding the wave of the circuit, even though

1999 also included losing “two or three partners in between (injuries and

the birth of his son, Dylan, now 10 months old). I played with five, six,

seven different guys last year. Unfortunately, I was dealt a few bad

hands, but I just had to roll with the punches.

“But I wound up doing pretty well and still won a couple of tournaments.

I was able to make some money and keep my ranking up.”

Lewis, 32, seeded fourth at Delray Beach with new partner Canyon Ceman,

captured the Muskegon Open title last year with Franco Neto. It was

Lewis’ sixth career championship. In the last three seasons, he has also

finished second nine times.

“It used to be a good living,” Lewis said. “It’s still pretty good, just

being able to play, to say that I play and to make a living doing it. I

really enjoy what I do. I enjoy the game.”

Lewis, who has been on the pro beach tour since 1990, believes he’ll be

stronger and quicker this year, thanks to a rigorous off-season training

program at Fast Twitch in Fountain Valley, which has a computer that

analyzes muscle weaknesses and tailors a workout specifically to one’s

conditioning needs and demands.

“I’ve seen great improvements in my body,” Lewis said. “I’ve been able to

jump higher and do all sorts of things.”

Lewis, who trains with Newport Beach’s Mark Rochy and former American

Gladiator television participant Tommy Knox of Fast Twitch, said he hopes

Ceman, ranked ninth in ‘99, will remain a partner for the entire 2000

circuit.

“I’m looking forward to this season,” said Lewis, who didn’t get serious

about volleyball until 1987, when he helped Orange Coast win a state

championship under Coach Bob Wetzel.

Lewis, who lives in Huntington Beach and cites former Olympic gold

medalist Steve Timmons (Newport Harbor, OCC and USC) as an inspiration to

his volleyball career, has won $876,864 on the AVP Tour.

In 1989, after sitting out a year, Lewis returned to Orange Coast and

once again led the Pirates to the state title as they finished 27-1

overall (16-0 in the Orange Empire Conference).

More than a decade since Lewis left his mark at OCC, he still ranks

second on the school’s all-time list in aces (54) and fourth in kills

(567). When Lewis completed his Orange Coast career, he was the

single-season leader in kills (334 in ‘89) and aces (30), and voted the

Player of the Year in the state and conference for the second time.

“I didn’t exactly see myself advancing in college, being only

(6-foot-1),” Lewis said in August 1994. “I like the beach game a lot.”

As a junior at Corona del Mar, Lewis led the Sea Kings to the CIF

Southern Section 4-A championship under Coach Matt Albade. But, at the

time, he was content playing volleyball as a recreation sport.

“I never played in any (beach) tournaments until my freshman year in

college (‘87),” Lewis once said. “Before then, volleyball was just

something we screwed around with when the waves were bad.”

An avid surfer who also owns property in Mexico by the beach, Lewis these

days is a family man who would like to keep his feet firmly planted in

the sand for as long as he can.