Concluding the Season

Well, the weather is starting to cool off and the days are getting shorter. All the signs are pointing to summer's drawing to an end. Doesn't mean that our season is over just yet, and we're going to squeze out every ounce of playing we can get in. This coming weekend is the big Motherlode tournament in Aspen, Colorado. It is the largest pro-am in the country, with open and masters divisions in the sand and a plethora of other divisions played in the grass. We'll be up in the sand playing the men's open division, which is guaranteing a solid turnout as always this year, with some deep competition. The Motherlode website is showing 62 teams in the men's division including some solid players that have been spending time on the AVP tour this year. It looks like our lead sponsor for the event will be Eighteen Panel Sport. Word on the street is we should have a pretty good seed going into the event and we will be looking to improve on last year's ninth place finish. There are three other teams from NM competing in the men's open as well.
Looking a bit further down the road, we're planning on playing the BadAss Grass tournament in Albuquerque again this year, celebrating the annual "wearing of the shoes and getting dirty on the grass" event. There is an outside chanve we may be able to make one more trip out to California to play in a CBVA event, especially if some sponsor support comes through. We are planning to conclude the season by competing in the Phoenix EVP event in late October. This looks like a great event with some good prize money. There should be some very good teams competing and it sounds like these are always well run tournaments. So, lots of volleyball left before winter's Hibernation sets in!

Sneakerz Championship/ Series Results

It was a great weekend for volleyball. The sixth and final event of the series saw some strong teams and some heated battles as players jockeyed for position in the Sneakerz Cup. It was also the first time that Jeff and Desi made an appearence in a final this summer. Their solid play throughout the day brought them to the winners final and then back through the contenders bracket into the tournament finals. Here are the results of the event:
1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel
2) Jeff Poole/ Desi Vigil
3) Matt Gordon/ Brian Luck
4) Chris Rooslid/ Rob Pierce
There was also a bonus pool payout for overall finishes during the season. Here's the New Mexico Beach Volleyball Bonus Pool results:
1) Adam Rubel
2) Loric Box
3) Matt Gordon
4) Chris Rooslid
Thanks again to Tavake and Sneakerz for another great season of New Mexico Beach Volleyball Doubles. We're looking forward to continued successful tournaments next year.

Sneakerz #6 - The Championship!

That's right, all the big $$$ and prizes are being awarded. This is the final battle in the men's sand division of the mighty Sneakerz beach volleyball series in Albuquerque, NM. An air of excitement is permeating the entire state. OK, maybe that's a bit of overhype, but this should be a good tournament as we're expecting a solid turnout. Here's the list as of now:
1) Adam Rubel/ Loric Box
2) Chris Roosalid/ Rob Pierce
3) Larry Cromwell/ Dave
4) Jeff Poole/ Desi Vigil
5) Matt Gordon/ ??

Sneakerz #5 Results

Desert beach volleyball is alive and well in New Mexico. We had a good turnout this past weekend with ten strong teams making an appearance at the next to last event of the Sneakerz summer series. Everybody's looking forward to the final event at the end of this month, with its larger payout and expected large draw. It was good to see Matt and Vince back together playing. Tony and Ricardo worked their way through the bracket to a strong finish. Chris and Matt V. round out some of the teams preparing to make an appearance at the big Motherlode event in Aspen. Here are the results as I recall:
1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel
2) Vince Vandermay/ Matt Gordon
3) Ricardo Sanchez/ Tony Perrera
4) Matt Valencia/ Chris Hammock