Partnership power

Mike Sciacca

Two teams, each comprised of first-time partners, won titles at last

weekend’s Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ Huntington Beach Open.

Eric Fonoimoana, a 2000 Olympic gold medalist, teamed with Dax Holdren

to win the men’s tournament, beating Mike Whitmarsh and Canyon Ceman in

the final, 21-18, 21-14.

Elaine Youngs and Holly McPeak won the women’s title, disposing of

challengers Barbra Fontana and Dianne DeNecochea, 21-18, 20-22, 15-9, in

the final.

Sunday’s championship matches concluded three days of competition and

beach festivities at the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier, and was

the first of seven tour stops nationwide for the AVP.

The two winning teams each receive a $14,500 first place prize, which

will be split between the players.

“Today we played with ball control and kept pressure on them,” said

Fonoimoana on Sunday, who didn’t win an AVP match last year. “It feels

really good to win this event.”

The duo of Fonoimoana/Holdren reached the final by eliminating the

men’s top seeded team of Stein Metzger and Kevin Wong, 21-17, 19-21,

15-11, in a semifinal match played earlier Sunday.

McPeak and Youngs, the women’s top seed, survived Fontana and

Denecochea in a tough, three-game final.

The Huntington Beach sister tandem of Katie and Tracy Lindquist played

four matches on Saturday, winning two.

The Lindquists won their tournament opener, defeating the team of

Stephanie Cox and Jen Holdren, 21-14, 21-17. In their next match, they

fell to one of the tournament’s top teams, Lisa Arce and Linda Hanley,

21-16, 21-11.

Despite the loss, the sisters, up-and-comers making a name for

themselves on the AVP tour, drew the praise of the veteran Hanley.

“They probably have some of the best ball control I’ve seen out there

in a long, long time,” Hanley said after the match. “If they continue to

improve, you’re going to hear about these two sisters in the future.”

Team Lindquist bounced back from that loss to top the duo of Erin

Galli and Barbara Nyland, 21-11, 21-19.

They were eliminated with a 22-20, 21-15 loss to Graci Santana-Baeni

and Lia Young.

“I thought the tournament went really well,” said Tracy Lindquist,

who, after playing four matches, left Saturday night to play in a

tournament in Texas. “There was a great turnout by the public and fans,

and there was definitely a lot for them to do.”

In addition to the volleyball taking place at center and adjacent

courts, the three-day event offered a youth clinic, youth tournament,

interactive skills challenge, AVP high school challenge and the Battle of

the Bands.

Sponsor tents were set up throughout the venue.

The tournament began with qualifying round action on Friday. The men’s

and women’s main draws took place on Saturday and Sunday.

The Lindquist sisters began their first tournament played on their

home sand by being featured on the one-hour, KMPC 1540 AM talk radio

program, “AVP Hour,” last Thursday.

The talk show, which focuses on the AVP tour, was hosted by two of the

top names in men’s professional volleyball, Sinjin Smith, co-founder of

the AVP, and Karch Kiraly, as well as the voice of the AVP, Chris McGee.

“I think the AVP is doing a great job in marketing the sport and the

tournament,” Tracy Lindquist said. “They are really working hard and

getting the sponsors involved. For the most part, I thought all the

players performed very well. Overall, it was a great weekend.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at (714)

965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.