Tattoos evident at Long Beach Open

LONG BEACH — With a 2-0 start in the main draw of the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ Long Beach Open, Jake Gibb was in the mood to chill Friday.

The top-seeded Costa Mesa resident, satisfied with the day’s performance, sat in the sand with Dax Holdren to watch his friends, Matt Fuerbringer and Casey Jennings, who eventually lost in three games to Canyon Ceman and Will Strickland.

Gibb, like nearly all of the AVP’s most recognizable players, wears removable tattoos as advertisement for his sponsors. Friday, he was sporting a Sand Socks tattoo on his right arm, and an ice pack on his left.

“If you do it right, you can make as much money off your sponsors as you do off your prize money,” Gibb said.

In other sports, players sport jerseys with sponsor logos all the time. But in beach volleyball, the place with the most real estate is a player’s body, hence the tattoos.

So are there any companies which are off limits?

“If there was something I didn’t agree with — this is just an arbitrary example — if I was super strong about the killing of tuna fish, or something like that, if it went against my beliefs, then I would not use it,” Gibb said.

No. 3 Mike Lambert of Costa Mesa, and partner Stein Metzger were also 2-0 Friday, and will meet Larry Witt and Kevin Wong in their first match today. Wong, who usually partners with Karch Kiraly, is playing with Witt as Kiraly abstained from playing in this tournament. Kiraly, who is on his retirement tour, will play in Manhattan Beach, the AVP’s last stop for the season in Southern California.

Former UC Irvine volleyball player Russ Marchewka of Corona del Mar and partner Eyal Zimet fell in the first round of the main draw to Dax Holdren and Sean Scott, 21-15, 21-19.

On the women’s side, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh were 3-0 in the main draw, and none of their opponents scored more than 13 points against them. However, fellow Newport Harbor product April Ross and Jennifer Boss did not fare as well, falling to Rachel Wacholder and Tyra Turner, 21-17, 21-15 in 42 minutes. No. 6 Ross and Boss must defeat No. 4 Annette Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan today if they want to move forward in the tournament.

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at soraya.mcdonald@latimes.com.