December 8th Tourney @ Charlie's Sandbox

Looks like this one will definitely be inside, unless some freak weather pattern as a result of global warming comes through. 8:00 AM check-in; 8:30 start, we'll go $15/ player and expect a solid turnout. Since we'll be inside, on 2 courts, we must finish by 4 and must get started on time, no foolin'. Drop me a line if you are interested in playing, pool play followed by double elim.
Results:
1) Adam Rubel/ Loric Box; 2) Matt Valencia/ Matt Jensen; 3) Bryan Klein/ Ricardo Sanchez; 4) Jorge Alarcon/ Krista Farris; 5) Jeff/ Cameron; 5) Olli Tavarian/ Ruskin Blankenship; WC) Jeff Poole

11/10 Tourney @ Charlie's Sandbox

8:00AM Check in; 8:30 start, finish by 4:00. $10 entry. Send me an email if you are interested in signing up. Let me know if you need a partner, we can help match you up!
UPDATE: We had the good fortune of an Indian Summer, with temps warming up quickly enough to get us outside after pool play, around 10:30 or so. Small turnout, hopefully folks will get back into the swing after a few months of summer officially ending. Good time, folks played lots of games. Here's the end results:
1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel; 2) Larry Cornwell/ Bryan Klein; 3) Jeff Poole; 5) Harris Zaeyee/ Kameron Cheney; 5) Sonny Marquez/ Rick Daraska; 6) Terry Daniels/ Rachel Petroff

CANCELLED!-10/13 Charlie's Sandbox Tourney

Unfortunately, a low turnout means we've had to cancel this weekend's tourney. There is, however, a co-ed event at Sneakerz. Hopefully we'll have better luck getting the November event off the ground.

9/22 Charlie's Sandbox Tourney

You all know the drill, final outdoor tourney of 2007. You can see the indoor sand schedule posted up in the left. 8:30 check-in, 9:00 AM start - SHARP! PLEASE DON'T SHOW UP LATE, IT DELAYS EVERYBODY AND MAKES EVERYBODY SAD BECAUSE THEY HAD TO GET THERE SO EARLY! We'll have 3-4 courts, so expect lots of playing throughout the day. Pool play followed by double elim.
UPDATE - Results:
1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel; 2) Chris Roosild/ Brian Post; 3) Jeff Poole/ Matt Jensen; 4)Larry Cornwell/ Desi Vigil; 5) Adam Cabbage/ Ricardo Sanchez; 5) Jeff Hart/ Cameron; 7) Bryan Klein/ Maria Marion;7) Harris Zayee/ Kevin; 7) Ed Lucero/ Dave Lujan; 7)Aaron/ Le

Aspen, Aspen, Aspen :-(

PART I

PART II

Well, it was a disappointing finish in Aspen this year. It was our worst finish playing together up there. We had a tough draw and played a couple of very strong teams, and did some things well, and some, not so well. All 3 of the games we lost were by 2 points. The most frustrating part of the tournament was my inability to finish in the end, being up 14-12 in the third game of our second match and not closing it out. Just as bad as a couple years ago being up 14-11 in the third to get to 5th place in the tourney and not closing it out. That proved to be a real motivator the next off season and led to the great season we had last year. Good news is I have most of the events on tape, so something to study. I've posted our final match, which was actually pretty well played on both sides, but we came up short 23-25 on a few critical late game errors. Overall we won two and lost two. There is room for improvement, the question is how much of a commitment do we want to make to getting to the next level. As I see it, to push ahead, those two matches we lost would not have to be close, considering they are very good teams, we'd have to make a substantial improvement, which will take a lot of effort. Something to think about going into the off season, especially in thinking about how hard to train. Time to go back and build the mental toughness for sure, which felt as though it was lacking for most of the season, probably attributable to busy schedules and less focus on the sport more than anything else. Anyhow, check out the vids above and let me know your thoughts if you have any ideas on where to go from here!

Gearing up for Motherlode & Sneakerz Championships

Well, the Motherlode volleyball event in Aspen usually signals the end to the competitive season. Though we'll play through the winter, this is really the final time to see major national competition. This year should be a good one, as Crocs is now a major sponsor and is pumping $12K into the pot. Lots of teams coming out from late qualifying and early main draw rounds in the Cincinnati AVP to play the event, the field looks deeper and stronger this year than in the past. Loric and I are getting a couple of local tourneys and some practice time in this week to help us prepare. Last year we pulled a disappointing 17th out of 64, this year we are hoping to improve on our best finish of 9th a couple of years ago. We've had the opportunity to practice with the Spalding King of the Beach ball, so the adjustment moving up to the higher elevation shouldn't be as dramatic. Hopefully we will get a decent seed and come out firing this year. I know we have the ability to push good teams, but haven't had the chance too often this year. We'll have to trust that our top game will come out under pressure.

This weekend in the Sneakerz championship event. Tavake has been one of the cooler people in promoting competitive volleyball in the region, and has done another great job this year. Hopefully they can expand their facilities and grow the number of participants in the future. Unfortunately, Chris and Matt will be taking the weekend off, cutting into the depth of the talent pool, but we should still have a decent turnout. I received word that entry will be $20/ person for the event. Everything will be paid back out and there will be prizes and t-shirts given out.
UPDATE:
Props to Desi and Larry for being the first team to take us to 3 games in a final, playing well all day and pulling out game 2.
1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel;
2) Desi Vigil/ Larry Cornwell;
3) Jeff Poole/ Matt Jensen 4) Kameron Cheney; 5) Jeff/ Cameron; 5) Adam/ Aaron; 7-9) Chris Trujillo/ Bryan Sissel; Dave/ Ed; Harris Zayee/ Kevin; Eddie/ Rich; Paul Sanchez/ Fred Ader; Randy Beebe/ Frank

Back to the Sandbox!

8/18 is the next beach volleyball event at Charlie's. 8:30 check-in, 9:00 SHARP start. Abbreviated pool play followed by double elim for the men, not sure what will be run for the women. PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN PLAYING! Life is so much easier when we know who to expect at a tourney.
UPDATE: It was a hot day in the sun, but everything kept moving and we had a good turnout on the men's side with 11 teams, a poor turnout on the women's side with 3 teams. I don't think we will be running women's events at Charlie's unless somebody is willing to step up and coordinate. Apparently there was also a women's event on Sunday at Sneakerz, so that probably cut into the turnout. We tried a new format, with match play to 15 in the lower bracket. Seemed like a good compromise to keep things moving and ensure everybody got enough playing in. Matt and Chris gave us a real tough run the first game of the final, making some great digs and pushing the game to extra points. Second wasn't as close, but we finished everything before 5:00! Womens had only three teams, so they got lots of playing and finished a bit earlier. Here are the results:
Men
1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel; 2) Chris Roosild/ Matt Valencia; 3) Jeff Poole/ Matt Jensen; 4) Bryan Klein/ Larry Cornwell; 5) Paul Sanchez/ Kameron Cheney; 5) Shane Murdie/ Gary; 7) John Malcom/ Daniel Pimental; 7)Adam/ Aaron; 9) Sonny Marquez/ Cameron; 9) Harris / Harley; 9) Randy/ Ed

Women
1) Shannon/ Maddie; 2)Kathy Berry/ Kimber; 3) Gabriella Ramirez/ Jennifer Lechman

We are changing the date of the next tournament at Charlie's to 9/22 because the Bad Ass Grass will be the weekend of 9/15. No women's event unless somebody from the ladies side wants to step up and run it.

Winding Down the Summer

Reflecting back on our season so far, I'd have to give it a lukewarm rating. I think the biggest drawback has been the limited opportunity to play real strong competition, and to play them at a higher level. Last year, we started out season in California in March, playing some real strong players including last year's AVP rookie of the year who was on TV last weekend in the finals of the Chicago event. That helped to set the pace. This year, both Loric and I were bogged with work and other commitments, so we got off to a slow start and didn't really see strong teams come in until near the end of May at the Sandia tourney. We weren't as prepared as we would have liked to have been for that event, and had a somewhat disappointing finish. Then travel schedules and a poor showing in Denver led us to a good finish in Vail, though we couldn't finish the job after a long run through the loser's bracket, while still not playing our best ball, in my opinion. Since then, I got to play a quali in NJ and we got to train in Hermosa beach which was great, but returned to a disappointing turnout in Taos without any out of state teams, though there were certainly good players at the event. A few weeks off and here we are. In CA it felt like things were coming together, but that was a while ago now. Hopefully we can get some practice time in and play well the next two NM tourneys to have a good showing at the Motherlode tourney in Aspen. There will be a real good showing there, with many strong teams registered from around the country. Time to focus in and work hard so we can put together a respectable run and nail an exclamation point into our outdoor season for 2007!

Sneakerz Series #3

Time again to get down and dirty in the soles of Sneakerz. This third event in the series should be a good one, with some cooler weather and a bit of cloud cover. Same rules and format as usual, short pool and double elim. Chris will be running the show, plan on an 8:30 arrival and $30/ team entry fee. This is the last one before the championship, so be sure to get out there and position yourself for some bonus prizes! Should be some good teams this weekend.
UPDATE: Heard it was a great tournament. About 8 teams, but everybody got lots of play. Loric and I sat this one out. The finals sounded dramatic, with Nate and Thierry coming back to win a double final over Chris & Matt - congrats to them! Here are the results:

1. Nate and Thierry; 2. Chris and Matt; 3. Ricardo and Matt; 4. Jeff and Larry; 5. Adam and Bryan; Daniel and Bryan

Taos Solar Spike

Well, fresh back from a trip up to Taos. It was a pretty good event, with strong backing from the local radio station and the town itself. Disapointed in the turnout, at least in the sand. The grass had a decent showing, especially with the battle of the businesses. There were only 6 teams in the men's sand and 4 womens. It's just difficult to get the limited number of players to turn out from the region for events before they get established. I think announcing and locking prize money prior to an event will help to attract open players, maybe also listing entries. A little disappointing to have the low turnout affect the payout in the sand. That being said, the teams were good quality and there were some good matches. A couple of new young guys came out from Albuquerque and were very impressive in their sand doubles debut. Apparently one of them played hoops for UNM. Hopefully they are excited about the sport and will keep coming out for events and work on improving their skills throughout the winter. Another surprise team was Bryan and Nate. Nate is a very strong player in the area from Alaska (though he started playing in CA) for the summer and Bryan is another of the young new guys. They put some good games together and the experience was undoubtedly good for Bryan. Matt played with his friend Adam from back in school, who hadn't played in a while, but looked like a real dangerous player when things started getting back in his groove. Surprise team for the weekend was Jeff and Desi, who put together some great matches, beating Matt and Adam two out of three matches (two of which went 3 games and both wins were in the double elim) and they even pushed us to a tight match in the winner's bracket final. The finals were played in rainy conditions, and Loric and I were clicking well, so we came out on top in a fairly decisive manner. Looked like they had a good turnout for Coed on the grass on Sunday as well. Congrats to Vanessa and Erin who looked to be playing real strong ball since coming back from Chicago and winning the women's open. Hopefully the event will continue to grow next year. Here are the men's results:
1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel; 2) Jeff Poole/ Desi Vigil; 3) Matt Valencia/ Adam 4) Nathan Beck/ Bryan Klein; 5) Cameron Vigil/ Jeff Hart; 5) Sonny Marquez/ Kameron Cheney

Back from the Beach!

It was a successful outing to the heart of the world for beach volleyball - Hermosa Beach. My wife and I flew in Thursday night, and after a 2 1/2 hour delay that got us to our hotel around 1:30AM, we met up with Loric the next day on the sand. He had tested his knee out with some peppering with his wife, and it felt OK, so he was ready to give it a go. We did some peppering and drills over by the pier. The AAU beach nationals was going on, and the girls were playing this day. AAU has amateur divisions for different age groups all the way up to 20 and under. There were a bunch of kids there representing Puerto Rico that were playing in the boys division the following day and they wanted to get some games in, so we obliged. It was a good chance for us to get our sand legs in the deep Hermosa pits, and helped them to get some playing in. We went further down the beach later in the day and did some drills with just the two of us - hitting shots, jump serving, passing, etc. Back up to the pier later and tan into those kids, still playing and still wanting to challenge. To be 18 again - those kids played all day long, the day before their big tournament. Not much competition for us, but fun games. Worst part was I noticed that night that even though the sand was just warm, I had blistered my feet pretty bad. How stupid, first day and I blister. Just had to throw on some sandsocks. Next day, we met up with somebody I've know through the AVP forum and email for some games. Decent players, but Loric and I started to get our game on and had no problem adjusting to the sand. We ran the court all day, playing probably close to a dozen games, followed by copious amounts of ocean swimming. Of course, I was relegated to sand socks and my feet just seemed to be getting worse. Loric's knee, however, seemed to be holding up just fine. Sunday we went back out to meet up with the same group and continued to run the court, creating a meltdown on an opposing team that caused a partner swap and left Loric and I playing against each other. The guy I knew coaches a number of players on tour and had one of his men's players coming for a practice session later that morning. He asked if we'd stick around and help run him through some drills. We did, taking tons of swings, digging, passing, plaing things out, etc. Good workout for sure. It's amazing how many players there are in that area, and how many of them get to workout on a regular basis with a coach, train and drill. No wonder it's where the top players all go! We definitely had our fill, but could have kept going for weeks longer. The games and practice should really be a big boost to our game as we return to NM for the Taos Solar Spike Tourney, local events and of course Motherlode in Aspen. My feet got so bad by the end that they were swollen for days and could barely fit into my sneakers. Some treatments and they are back down to normal size and the blisters are healing, ready for more practice next week when Loric returns!

7-14 Charlie's Sanbox Results

It sounds like a good last tournament at Charlie's Sandbox last weekend. Thanks to Chris for running the show while we were away. Hopefully we can continue to turn out men's and women's teams for the rest of the summer. Of course, next weekend is the Taos Solar Spike! This is really looking like a fun event. The battle of the business division is filling up fast, but we still need to get players out in the other divisions. Lots of good stuff in this one, wouldn't want to miss it! Here are the results from last weekend at Charlie's:

Women (6 Teams)

1. Maddy and Shannon; 2. Steph and Chandra

Men (8 Teams)

1. Chris and Matt; 2. Ricardo and Matt J.; 3. Jorge and Rob; 4. Jeff and Larry

AVP Quali, Injury, Heading to CA

Well, this past week Loric and I headed in different directions. He headed to the mountains to camp with his family while I headed with my wife to the east coast to see mine. I got in to the AVP qualifier in Seaside. Big accomplishment, because I now have a point that means I shouldn't be eliminated from future big draw events, meaning Loric and I should be able to get into quali's this year and next. We had to play the first game of the tourney, at 8:00 AM on Thursday. It was wet, hot and cold, seemed like the weather changed three times during the match. It's always tough getting out with someone you are not used to playing with, especially in a single elim tourney with decent competition. My partner Jeff and I played fairly well, but there were streaks of giving and getting points which showed a lack of consistency in teaming together. We dropped the first game in extra points on a net dribbler ace. We won the second game, which got close at the end, although we had a steady lead throughout. Too many mistakes in the third wound up costing us the match against a decent, but beatable team from Ohio. It was good to see a lot of players that I know and some I hadn't seen for many year. One of the big goals was to watch Karch Kiraly play one of his last tournaments. He was pretty amazing for any age, let alone a 47 year old. I talked with Loric today. He was supposed to play up in Steamboat with Matt from CO. Unfortunately, he hurt his knee in the last tournament we played together at Sneakerz and wasn't able to give it a go. He's out in CA right now and was going to practice moving around a bit to see if we will be able to play at all this weekend. We fly out tomorrow night and will spend 4 days in Hermosa Beach, the heart of Beach Volleyball. Looking forward to spending more time on a beach and getting some touches against some of the toughest competition anywhere. Next big event for us is going to be the Taos Solar Spike, which will draw strong teams from the region and is shaping to be a great event. This weekend is and event at Charlie' Sandbox. Teams looking to register should contact Chris: vaenekene@yahoo.com

Splittin' the Diferrence

Loric and I are heading seperate ways this week. I'm writing from the airport in Houston, en route to New Jersey where I hope to get a crack at playing in an AVP qualifier at Seaside Heights. Loric is already on his way up in Colorado, camping out until the big tournament this weekend in Steamboat Springs. Loric will be playing with Matt Akromis up there, a solid player from Denver whom I teamed with last year for a very respectable 4th place at the King of the Mountain in Vail. They should do very well. I'm playing with Jeff from NY at the quali. Jeff and I already played a couple of times this year in Florida, without much success, but I'm hopeful we can turn it around for this event. In fact, I'm hopeful we'll be able to get to play in the event at all. The last two AVP qualifiers I attempeted to play in the past two years were met with rejection before ever being allowed to step on the court. Tempe in 2005 and Huntington in 2006 were both limited draws, and not having the time or resources to follow the quali circuit around the country meant I had not accumulated enough points to gain entry. They are listing a 40 team qualifier in Seaside Heights for each men and women, I'm hoping that many west coast players will not make the expensive trip out and the Thrusday event will keep away many players with regular jobs. It looks like none of the qualifiers have filled up this year. You'd think winning the AVP next open regional championship last year would have been a boost, but the AVP doesn't use AVP finishes. Anyhow, stepping on the court would be a success in that it would allow me to get at least a few points and give Loric and I a much better chance of getting into a future event, perhaps the big one in Manhattan in August. It should be interesting, with 8 main draw slots available and a small q, and the forcast is calling for a good chance of rainy weather. Seaside Heights is not my favorite beach in NJ, but it is where I won my first open tournement way back when I was a 16 year old kid. I might also pick up a partner to play in the GAV event on Saturday, we'll see. After flying back home to NM on Monday, my wife and I will hop on a quick flight Thursday night and head out to Hermosa Beach where Loric and I will reunite and get some practice and hopefully a tourney in against the best competition in the country. I'll keep posting about how things turn up out here, and Loric should be giving me a call to let me know how it goes in Steamboat. Summertime....good stuff!

Sneakerz Series #2

Time again to hit the sands at Sneakerz. Chris will be running this 2 on 2 men's format. I'll take the registrations and post them up here, as well as the results after.

Also, our sponsor, 18 Panel Athletic, has worked out a fundraising deal to help us with our travels. We will have hats and shirts for sale at the event and future events. Proceeds will go to our travel fund to help us get out and represent NM at different tournies. It will also help to launch this startup volleyball company out of Phoenix.

Update:
It was a cooker on Saturday. Temps got into the upper 90's and the slightest breeze didn't arrive until late in the afternoon. A long day too, with the finals wrapping up around 8:00PM. We had a solid 12 team turnout. Here are the finishers, as I recall them: 1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel 2) Matt Valencia/ Chris Roosild 3) Thierry Thelliez/ Nathan Beck 4)Rob Pierce/ Jorge Alarcon 5) Bryan Klein/ Larry Cornwell 5) Desi Vigil/ Jeff Poole

Gettin' in the groove...

Well, this weekend we finally started playing some decent volleyball and had a strong showing at the King of the Mountain tournament up in Vail, CO. Loric and I had a first tough match against Lucas and Tony. We were up for most of the first game, but somehow lost it at the end, something like 22-24. I shanked game point, and wasn't happy. Fortunately we picked it up and cruised through the next two games to win a fun match against a real athletic team. Next we faced Ryan and Paige, a real solid team that we last played in the finals up in Denver last year. I got about every serve and was lousy at siding out, and not picking up many balls. We dropped the match and were sent to the loser's bracket with something to think about through the night. I calmed my frustration and went back to fundamentals and found my shooting range on Sunday. We played a number of solid teams, but were in control, winning our first three games fairly handidly. We then faced Paige and Ryan again in the semifinals. We were off to a sow start in the first game, but steadied out by the end of it. We went on to play solid volleyball, scooping balls and siding out well. We won the second game by a good margin, and battled through the third to win the match. The long day on hard backed sand at high elevation and warm weather took its toll, we were both twinging by the third game of that match and were sucking down beers and pickles trying to dig deep for the finals. We faced Neil and Jamey, last year's winners. We gutted it out and I made a serving mistake, going to Jamey at 19-20 in the first game. He sided out and took the game. We were a little too gassed and they had fresh legs, playing only their second match of the day, and they took us out in two. They are a solid team and we needed to be at the top of our game to have a chance of victory. We both felt that our best ball of the season remains ahead of us, an upcoming trip to CA should help to boost us along. My body feels kind'a wrecked from getting all the serves and playing on such fine, hard packed sand, but an off week should be plenty of recovery. This was our best finish at one of the major mountain tournaments, and we go a little write up in the Vail Daily News. I think we're both looking forward to picking up our game the rest of this season and creating some big finishes. I'll be heading to NJ in a couple of weeks and may pick up a partner for the AVP quali or local tournament depending on if a suitable one turns up. Loric may be able to get up to Steamboat to play another mountain tourney if he can connect with the right partner. We'll re-unite in Manhattan Beach, CA to play a GAV tourney and get some practice in with the big guns, hopefully. Of course, first there is the Sneakerz tourney next week...

Back in Action

OK, back from a great trip to northern California and a tourney up in Denver. It's really hard for me to be living far from the ocean, little trips here and there help out. I'm gonna rant a bit about my lousy level of play this year. Not sure what is going on, mentally feeling focused, physically feeling healthier and stronger with each tournament, but my skills seem off, at least one important skill - siding out. Last year it was such a focus of mine to be able to side out consistently against just about anyone after being served a lot the year before, and I felt like I achieved that goal. This year, I've been giving up runs of 4-5 points in a row and had a few total meltdowns up in Denver of not being able to do anything right. Well, we did play a couple of very good teams that were playing well, hopefully it will be enough to motivate me to get my game up to par. We've got a good long stretch ahead of us, and strangely, I feel we are improving in some way every time we step on the court. Loric and I should have our rhythm down by the time we hit Vail for the King of the Mountain in a couple of weeks.

OK, sorry for boring you with that tirade. I heard the Sneakerz tourney from a couple of weeks ago went real well. Loric picked up Desi to win a double final over Chris and Matt V. Kudos to Desi who has been playing great ball all year for finally getting his name etched on the plaque at Sneakerz (ok, there really isn't a plaque, but there should be!). This weekend we return to Charlie's Sandbox, sans Charlie, to play it up again. I'm late in getting notices out, but hopefully we will see a strong turnout based on the crowd that showed up to the Sandia Mountain Classic. I almost forgot that Beach Volleyball Magazine ran an article that I rushed together before leaving town on the event. The Taos Solar Spike in late July is sounding like it is going to be a great tournament. Kameron has been doing a great job getting sponsors and building some high quality sand courts. Many guys from Denver were interested in coming down for the event; hopefully a few women's teams will turn out as well. UPDATE:
Men
1) Loric Box/ Adam Rubel; 2) Chris Roosilid/ Matt Valencia; 3) Ricardo Sanchez/ Matt Jensen; 4)Fred Ader/ Larry Cornwell; 5) Bryan Klein/ Mike; 5) Shayne Murdie/ Dave Bruhner; 7) Ed/ Dave; 7) Rich/ Adam; 9) Paul/ Nate; 9) Patrick/ Partner; 9) Harris/ Daniel


Women
1) Patty Ader/ KC Raver; 2) Chandra Weaver/ Stephanie Valencia; 3) Davina Romero/ Lveryn Aodaca 4) Sarah/ Rachelle

It has begun...

Allright, the Sandia Mountain Volleyball Classic was very cool. There were over 50 teams in 5 divisions, I don't think I've seen that many outdoor volleyballers in NM at one time. There were only 11 teams in the men's open, but it was a super solid draw, all the way to the top. I was glad to be able to play, the acupuncture and bodywork I've been getting have really helped with the back and shoulder problems that had me feeling pretty crummy to start the season. We started out slow, out of rhythm, and not feeling real comfortable against a pretty strong team from New Jersey. We actually dropped a big lead in the first game, like 19-14, to lose 24-26 or something. I don't think we've blown a late game lead since our first year at Aspen, which fired us up for our tear during all of last season. We dropped the second game to them as well in a close one. Later in the day, we started to get more comfortable and our rhythm was clicking. We tore through a Texas teams and had a pretty good run at the NM Matt's. We started to get more comfortable, siding out steadily and converting in transition. Sunday we went up against the solid team of Post/ Scott from CO. While the first game started off slow for both teams, things quickly heated up and we had a great match, with some terrific plays and exchanges. Ryan was playing phenomenal is siding out super steady, crushing our strategy of wearing him out with every serve. We could have been smarter, but his partner was good too, and we like a challenge. We had a few shakey moments of siding out, not in our best rhythm yet, but we were definitely kicked into a gear we hadn't had to touch in a year. We dropped two very close, very long extra point games. We were pretty happy with our play considering we haven't been practicing or playing much due to our work schedules and funky weather. Feels like, at least for me personally, I'm finally starting to bounce back from a prolonged playing slump. Now, however, we're into the swing of season and volleyball is about to get real busy for us. I'm heading out to California tonight (yeah, real late night road trip) and will hook up to play in Santa Cruz with a Denver transplant living out there now. Should hopefully get some touches in the real sand during the week as well. Loric will be playing in the Sneakerz touorney on Sat with a partner, as far as I know, yet to be determined. The day I get back from the Cruz, I'll be meeting up with Loric, or Matt and Chris, to head up to Denver to play in the first CPVA up there. Then its back to Charlie's for a local tourney, then off to Vail, couple weeks later its New Jersey then right back to California to play a GAV in Manhattan Beach. Guess this is what all those extra hours working through the winter were for! We're planning on getting more practice time during the week, so combined with the high level of competition, we should be humming along in no time!

Should have some pics from Paul to post when I get back in a couple weeks.

If you're here looking for info on Saturday's Sneakerz tourney, contact Chris at: Vaenekene@yahoo.com; 505-363-1262 to sign up

Team Sponsors for 2007!

You've probably noticed the sponsor column at the left. These are the good folks that have stepped up to support our team and help us to travel and compete in events around the country. We owe tremendous gratitude to each of them, here is an explanation of who they are:
Volleychick - Definitely not just for chicks, they make volley clothes and goods with style, and dare say, attitude. Hats, shirts and other goods can be spotted on us at events. Check them out, some very cool stuff you will want to be wearing!
Plastic Clothing - Volleyball specialty clothes, you'll catch us wearing their board shorts, very cool board pants and sweatshirts. Great style and comfort, look them up for some great volleygear!
18 Panel Athletic - A very cool startup company out of AZ. Great designs can be seen on our hats and shirts. They should have a website happening soon!
Wayne Steen: State Farm - Talk about a good neighbor, I've had State Farm insurance since I was a kid and have always gotten great service. Wayne has stepped forward to provide generous support for our volley-adventures. If your in the market for insurance, check them out!
Target Safe Security - Top security service in the region, providing alarms and systems to keep your home and business secure. They are generously sponsoring our team, check them out to help with all your security needs!
Smith Sport Sunglasses - Very cool and effective sunglass company. Their polar brown lenses are my favorite, enhancing depth perception and protecting the eyes while providing that ever important oh-so-cool appearance!
Badger Balm - Great company that puts out suncreen and body care products. This sport has us taking a beating from the elements every time we go out, good thing we've got badger to help fix us up!
Lucky 66 Volleyball Oasis - New facility in Albuquerque, with 2 soon to be 4 sand courts. Leagues and tourneys, they've helped us out and we may be doing more clinics there this year!

Again, thanks to all our sponsors and we hope you will support them to encourage their continued involvement with our sport!

Let the Season Begin!

OK, you may think this is a pretty wacky post to be writing about the start of the season when we never really stopped playing and since we had two outdoor tourneys last month and I've already played twice in Florida tournaments. The cold, hard reality is that both Loric and I have been super busy in the non-volley world keeping up with work and life. Plus a few minor injuries. Throw in some wacky spring weather that brought more late rain and snow than usual, and it's been feeling like a slow start to the season. Last week was the first time anybody in the state had a chance to get out during the week and practice. While we've played and won the local tourneys, everybody seems real rusty and the quality of play has not been that high in my opinion. We've got a good network and guys are supportive of each other to help bring our games up to the next level collectively, so I'd expect some quick improvements. Hopefully real quick, because this weekend is the first ever Sandia Mountain Volleyball Classic. This should give everybody a jolt. We've got about 50 teams signed up in 3 divisions for mens and womens, making this the biggest sand tourney in NM in a real long time. The open has some very solid teams traveling in from various places, including a few teams hopping over from the AVP in Glendale, AZ following their elimination. No matter the outcome, it is great to have this competition come into state to push everybody to pick up our games to the next level. That's why I kind of see it as the start of the season, Denver, Vail and California are not far behind for us. You can tell we also haven't made it out to any AVP tourneys yet. Well, that's a bit of a point of frustration. We were bounced last year from Huntington for not having points as my points had expired, so we couldn't get points, have no points now, and all the quali's are limited in size so we don't know when we can get points, although all the qualis so far have had low turnouts so we could have gotten in. So do we risk making travel plans for a tourney we won't know until the day before if we can get in? We'll see. You've probably also noticed the video at the top. My first attempt, hopefully more to come during the summer. Hopefully they'll get better than this hack job, but it's a start!

King of the Beach at Sneakerz

Saturday, April 28th we return to the sands of Sneakerz for the annual early season King of the Beach tournament. What the heck is that, you may ask? This is the perfect format for guys that don't have their partners figured out for the season yet and for others to play with guys they don't normally get to side with. In this tournament, players are set in pools of four and each player gets to partner with every other player in the pool. Those with the top point differentials and records advance to a new pool of players, until the final pool, which is decided by the player with the greatest margins of victory while playing with all the remaining players. Of course, the event could adopt the AVP format of the two finalists selecting from the eliminated players, with the exception of not being able to select their normal partner. I'll list players entered for the event, you can let me know if you are interested in playing or call Tavake directly.
UPDATE:
It was a long, hot day with lots and lots of playing. We had 18 or so participants, good numbers for early in the season with a bunch of guys away and others not wanting to get sandy before their indoor matches that evening. After a double elim KoB format, the battle of attrition came down to Loric and Myself advancing with a bye to the finals. Chris and Tony fought their way out of the last pool. After a roll off, the teams were set. Chris and Loric wrecked Tony and myself who had run out of gas in the final match, played under the lights. So, for the second year, Loric wears the crown and I get the court jester shoes ;-). Here's the final 4 finish:
1) Loric Box
2) Adam Rubel
3) Chris Roosilid
4) Tony Shimkus

April 14th Charlie’s Sandbox Tourney

Looks like summer is here! The 14^th is the first full on outdoor sand tourney, and the event will have men's, women's and possibly juniors teams. With 6 outdoor sand courts, we can run some exciting formats, and word on the street is we'll have some sponsor prizes to offer as well.

UPDATE: It was a wild tournament last weekend. Most of the state was getting snowed on Friday. When I woke up on Friday, we had some real heavy frost here in Santa Fe, and playing a beach volleyball tournament that same day seemed kind of crazy. We started the day using a single indoor sand court, along side the ladies. In typical New Mexico fashion, the sun came out and the temperatures started to warm, so by ten o'clock we were outside and breaking in Charlie's 4 new sand courts. With ten men's teams and 6 women's, there was lots of ball being played. teams seemed kind of rusty at times, maybe because it is so early in the season and nobody is playing during the week and irregularly on the weekends. The finals for the men were real strange. First Loric cramped, which never happens, so I started to do a bit more like run up and block. Then My legs locked down to my ankles, which doesn't really happen, and the whole thing is real strange because even though we were playing off all day, we didn't have any extra games and it was nice and cool outside. Anyhow, the pain made us focus and we pulled out a W in two games. Steph and Meredith won on the women's side, and Paul showed up later in the day so hopefully we'll have some pics to post soon. Here are the results of the men's tourney:
1) Adam Rubel/ Loric Box 2) Rob Pierce/ Chris Roosilid 3) Jeff Poole/ Tony Shimkus 4) Desi Vigil/ Larry Cornwell 5) Steve Seel/ Fred Ader 5) Mike Bien/ Gary 7) Olli/ Ruskin 7) Brad/ Tudy 9) Rich/ Eddie 9) Rich/ Bryan
Next big event is the Sandia Mountain Classic, which is shaping up to be a real big event. I'll write a bit more on it later...

New Mexico Beach Volleyball 2007

This could be the best year for sand volleyball in New Mexico in a really long time. With Charlie's Sandbox addition of four outdoor sandcourts, bringing the total at the facility to 6 outdoor and 2 indoor sand, we have the possibility of running larger events. For the first time in a while, Men and Women will have concurrent tournaments at that location. Sneakerz remains in the mix, running its annual summer sand series with monthly volleyball tournaments. Finally, we are looking at two special events in state taking off and establishing themselves for the first time this year. There will be a major event in May at Charlie's Sandbox - The Sandia Mountain New Mexico Volleyball Classic. This event promises to offer cash and prizes that is already drawing in top players from around the country and offering competition for all levels of play. There will also be a major tournament in Taos July 28th-29th. This event will feature open play on three sand courts and amateur divisions on the grass. There may be additional events added to te schedule in upcoming weeks. All this means good things for the growth of volleyball in New Mexico. Here is the official Sand Schedule for New Mexico, 2007:

Date	Title	Surface	Format	Location
4/14	Sandbox Tourney	Sand	2’s-W,M,Jr	Charlie’s Sandbox
4/28	Sneakerz King of the Beach	Sand	2’s – KoB	Sneakerz
5/12	Sandia Mountain New Mexico Volleyball Classic	Sand	2’s – M,W (Open, A, B)	Charlie’s Sandbox
5/19	ARVCRebels.com	Grass	2’s-M,W,Jr (Sat) 2’s-Coed; 4’s-Coed (Sun)	Manzano Mesa Park
5/26	Sneakerz Series #1	Sand	2’s-M	Sneakerz
6/9	Sandbox Tourney	Sand	2’s-W,M,Jr	Charlie’s Sandbox
6/10	ABQ Volleyfest Series #1	Grass	2’s-M,W,Jr	Manzano Mesa Park
6/23-24	ABQ Volleyfest Series #2	Grass	2’s-M,W,Jr (Sat) 2’s-Coed; 4’s-Coed (Sun)	Manzano Mesa Park
6/30	Sneakerz Series #2	Sand	2’s-M	Sneakerz
7/8	ABQ Volleyfest Series #3	Grass	2’-Coed (Aspen Format)	Manzano Mesa Park
7/14	Sandbox Tourney	Sand	2’s-W,M,Jr	Charlie’s Sandbox
7/21-22	ABQ Volleyfest Series #2	Grass	2’s-M,W,Jr (Sat) 2’s-Coed; 4’s-Coed (Sun)	Manzano Mesa Park
7/28-29	Taos Solar Spike Open	Sand (open)/ Grass (other)	2’s-M,W (Open,A,B); Jr	Taos
8/4	Sneakerz Series #3	Sand	2’s-M	Sneakerz
8/11-12	ABQ Volleyfest Final Series	Grass	2’s-M,W,Jr (Sat) 2’s-Coed; 4’s-Coed (Sun)	Manzano Mesa Park
8/18	Sandbox Tourney	Sand	2’s-W,M,Jr	Charlie’s Sandbox
8/25	Sneakerz Series Finale	Sand	2’s-M	Sneakerz
9/15	Sandbox Tourney	Sand	2’s-W,M,Jr	Charlie’s Sandbox

Contact Information

Location	Director/ Event Info
Charlie’s Sandbox	M-Adam Rubel; nmsvbteam[at]gmail.com W-Stephanie Sauer; stephsauer14[at]yahoo.com With 8 sand courts, tournaments here promise to be a good time. Cash and prizes for all events. $20-36 Entry Fee More info: http://desertsandvb.blogspot.com/ http://desertnmwsandvball.blogspot.com/
Sneakerz	Tavake Misailegalu; 505-720-4209 2 sand courts and longest running tournament series in New Mexico. High payouts and year-end bonus pool. Cash Prizes. $30 Entry Fee. More info: http://www.sneakerzsportsbar.com/
Sandia Mountain Classic	Sonny Marquez www.plasticclothing.com; 505-269-6119; sonny[at]plasticclothing.com First year and first major tournament in NM in a long time. Top players from around the country as well as multiple divisions for all skill levels. Special events. All entries receive Tee shirt. $60 Entry fee, registration online at Plastic website. More info visit: http://sandiavolleyball.blogspot.com/
Abq Volleyfest and grass Events	Fred Ader: 505-480-4196, fmader[at]sandia.gov Long running grass series of tournaments, featuring multiple levels of competition. Cash and prizes. $20 entry fee, pre-reg. More info: http://www.arvcrebels.com/
Taos Solar Spike Open	First year event hoping to draw teams from around the region. Run on three sand courts and many grass courts. Cash and prizes. $50/team entry fee. http://www.solarspikevolleyball.com

2007: Loric & Adam's early travel scedule

We had the chance to sit down this past weekend and pour over some of the many schedules put out by different tours and events and we have come up with our tentative travel schedule. It's going up here to let you all know about some great events and for those that are interested in tracking our progress during the year. We are real excited about this upcoming season. Both of us have been training real hard and are in very good physical shape. Having the opportunity to play in the sand throughout the winter has kept our skills sharp and our game at a good level. While we were considering some of the other AVP stops, the tentative schedule at this point shows more events that are small draws and off the beaches, frankly at places we aren't all that interested in traveling to. We would have liked to get out to CA for an EVP, but Loric's teaching schedule means we will have to miss those. I am hoping to pick up a partner for an East End tourney in Florida in March, as I will be out there on business anyhow. And, the exciting news is a couple of major events here in New Mexico. Lucky 66 is in the final stages of piecing together a large event that will draw national caliber players. We are also working on getting a Taos event together at the end of July that will have the promise of a great draw, as new sand courts are being built and grass divisions can be offered as well. There will also be three bars running events in Albuquerque throughout the summer: Charlie' Sandbox will have 8 sand courts; Lucky 66 will have 4; and Sneakerz will have 2. This should prove to be a great summer for volleyball! Here is our early travel plans:
3/3 - Clearwater Beach, FL - East End - Adam is picking up a partner for this event.
3/24 - Delray, FL - East End - Adam will pick up a partner for this event.
4/19 - Dallas, TX - AVP - If we can somehow be allowed into the draw and be given the opportunity to build points. Very tentative travel site.
5/3 - Huntington Beach, CA - AVP - Only with a guarantee from the AVP we can get in this year.
5/5 - Santa Monica, CA - CBVA
5/12 - Sandia Mountain Volleyball Classic - Big event in NM, Check it.
6/2 - Denver, CO - CPVA - This one is looking more likely than the one the following week.
6/16 - Vail, CO - King of the Mountain - The mighty Vail tourney
7/5 - Seaside Heights, NJ - AVP - I've got family back there, so it should make this stop easy.
7/7 - NJ - Local tourney, looks like GAV is running one.
7/14 - Manhattan Beach, CA - GAV - Coast to coast, this is vacation time, should be a great tourney.
7/19 - Long Beach, CA - AVP - Hopefully we will have a whole bunch of AVP points by this one.
7/21 - Play del Rey, CA - CBVA - More volley on the beach
7/28 or 8/4 - Taos, NM - One of these dates, this should be a real fun tourney.
8/9 - Manhattan Beach, CA - AVP - So long as they are allowed to run it, this is the big one.
8/11 - Ocean Beach, CA - CBVA
9/1 - Aspen, CO - Motherlode - The mother of all lode tourneys, always fun.

Hopefully we will get the local schedule together in the next couple of weeks!

2007 AVP Schedule & Draw Size - Tentative

This is a controversial subject for some bizarre reason. This is the latest version that was leaked out on the AVP forum last week. It may be helpful for some folks making travel arrangements or scheduling tourneys if any of the tour dates are a consideration. Unfortunately, there seems to be few stops on actual beaches and the draw size for many of the events has been cut down to 24, meaning qualifier draws will be limited based upon points accrued in the previous 365 days. Loric and I were considering the opening Miami date, but given that it looks to be a smaller draw, we'll probably have to try our luck at one of the CA stops, maybe see if we will be allowed to play in Huntington this year. Anyhow, here is the info I captured from the site (It does vary from some other version floating around, guess we'll know for sure some time in Feb):
UPDATE - SCHEDULE RELEASED

Miami, FL	Apr. 13 - Apr. 15	FSN
Dallas, TX	Apr. 19 - Apr. 22	FSN
Huntington Beach, CA	May 3 - May 6	FSN
Glendale, AZ	May 10 - May 13	FSN
Hermosa Beach, CA	May 17 - May 20	FSN
Louisville, KY	May 24 - May 27	FSN
Tampa, FL	May 31 - Jun. 3	FSN
Atlanta, GA	Jun. 7 - Jun. 10	FSN
Charleston, SC	Jun. 14 - Jun. 17	FSN
Seaside Heights, NJ	Jul. 5 - Jul. 8	FSN
Long Beach, CA	Jul. 19 - Jul. 22	NBC and FSN
Chicago, IL	Aug. 2 - Aug. 5	NBC and FSN
Manhattan Beach, CA	Aug. 9 - Aug. 12	NBC and FSN
Boston, MA	Aug. 16 - Aug. 19	NBC and FSN
Brooklyn, NY	Aug. 23 - Aug. 26	NBC and FSN
Cincinnati, OH	Aug. 30 - Sept. 2	FSN
Las Vegas, NV	Sept. 6 - Sept. 8	FSN
San Francisco, CA	Sept. 14 - Sept. 16	FSN