Blanton, Wacholder reach semis at Huntington Beach Open

Mike Sciacca

Two Laguna Beach High alums nearly took center stage at the

Huntington Beach Open last weekend at the south side of the

Huntington Beach Pier.

Dain Blanton, Class of 1990, and teammate Jeff Nygaard advanced to

the men’s semifinals where they suffered a tough, 19-21, 21-16, 17-19

loss to eventual champion Jason Ring and George Roumain.

Rachel Wacholder, Class of 1993, and Angie Akers, playing for the

first time as a team, reached the women’s semifinals where they were

eliminated by eventual champion Misty May and Kerri Walsh, 15-21,

16-21.

On Sunday, before a packed, appreciative house on hand at center

court and more fans packing the pier directly above the venue, the

world’s No. 1-ranked team of May and Walsh cruised to the women’s

title and the team of Ring and Roumain was a surprise winner in the

men’s final of the fourth event of the 2004 AVP Nissan Series.

May and Walsh toppled veteran pro and former Olympian Barbra

Fontana and her partner, Jennifer Kessy, who was making her first

appearance in a tournament final, 21-16, 21-15.

May and Walsh now have won 86 consecutive matches and a record

15-straight tournament victories -- the most in beach volleyball

history.

Ring and Roumain, in their first year as teammates, earned their

first tournament title by upsetting the No. 1 men’s team seed of Sean

Rosenthal and Larry Witt, 21-12, 21-16.

Blanton and Nygaard won five matches during the tournament. Their

only two losses were to the two teams that played for the men’s

title.

It was the pair’s third, third-place finish during the 2004 AVP

Nissan Tour.

“We’re still looking for that first win,” said Blanton, who, like

Wacholder, will compete at this weekend’s AVP event, the Manhattan

Open. “I’ve never won Manhattan and I’d love to do that before I take

off.”

Blanton and Nygaard, who are the current points leader in the hunt

for one of two U.S. men’s team berths in the Summer Olympics in

Greece, will be gone for one month following the Manhattan Opener to

play in four qualifying tournament prior to the July 10 Olympics

deadline.

The pair will play in Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Germany and Norway

over the course of the next month.

Wacholder said she and Akers became teammates just two weeks ago.

Prior to Akers, Wacholder had teamed with Ashley Bowles in earlier

AVP action this year, and partnered with Lisa Arce in 2003.

Wacholder and Akers won four matches at Huntington, their losses

coming to May and Walsh and the team of Nancy Mason and Carrie Busch.

“We’ve only been training for a couple of weeks and went up

against some teams that have been together for some time, so with

that in mind, I think we really did a great job,” Wacholder said. “I

think we have a lot of potential. Now, it’s just a matter of how we

perform on a consistent basis.”

The winning men’s and women’s teams each earned a cool $14,500 for

their finals victories.

The total purse for the Huntington Beach Open was $125,000.

Two of the three top teams on the women’s side were absent from

the competition.

Four-time MVP Holly McPeak and Olympian Elaine Youngs and

Olympians Annett Davis and Jenny Jordan Johnson are currently

competing internationally to qualify for the second spot at the

Summer Olympic Games in Athens.

The men’s side was missing some of the top Olympic-contenders

including Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger, Tempe Open winners Todd

Rogers and Sean Scott and 2000 Olympians Eric Fonoimoana and Kevin

Wong.