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09/28/2006: "AVP Wrap"

It sort of got lost with the run-up to the Pesky and all, but the AVP wrapped up the 2006 beach volleyball season two weekends ago in Lake Tahoe. It ended the same way it started, with Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh standing on top of the podium. But what a wild ride it was in between!

The season was a dream for May/Walsh. 13 titles, each over the million dollar mark in career earnings, a 35-game win streak to end the season. Misty won the Queen of the Beach tourney, and will no doubt repeat as the tour's MVP. But as easy as it was for the defending Olympic champions, it was hard for their competition.

This was the year that M/W was finally going to be dethroned, and the team to do it was going to be Elaine Youngs and my girl Rachel Wacholder. They got off to a good start, beating May/Walsh twice early in the season. But the popularity of beach volleyball and the need to start prepping for the 2008 Bejing Games means that the top teams must play both the domestic AVP schedule as well as the international FIVB series, and that can make for a very hectic summer. At one point, the girls spent 25 consecutive weekends playing volleyball somewhere in the world, and it took a toll. While M/W performed well in the FIVB, holding their own against the best of the Brazilians, the grind was too much for Rachel and EY. At the Paris FIVB event in August, EY - never one to hold in her feelings - was sniping at Rachel openly on the court. By the time they had returned from a German event the next weekend and started to prepare for the Manhattan Open - the AVP's crown event - the team shocked the VB community with the announcement that they were splitting up. This caused a ripple effect among the other teams as everyone scrambled for new partners - and guaranteed that Misty and Kerri wouldn't be challenged again. While Rachel and her new partner Jen Boss did reach several finals, EY and Nicole Branaugh were relegated to also-ran status.

Success is a dual-edged sword, and the AVP's success in recent years will see it adding more events to the 2007 calendar. Add to that the fact that the 2007 FIVB events will be used to determine who goes to Bejing, and I can see a real pressure cooker coming up. It remains to be seen what additional shuffling of teams will occur over the winter, but you can bet they're going to happen. Come summer, though, the names on the bikini-clad bottoms will change, but the game will go on - and it'll all be good!