Monumental payoff

Last summer, history was made on the final day of the Huntington Beach Open.

This weekend, it will be set again, but in a different manner.

The Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ Cuervo Gold Crown Huntington Beach Open is in town this weekend, offering four days of intense action between the world’s top professional beach volleyball players.

“It’s always great to come back to Huntington Beach,” AVP Commissioner Leonard Armato said. “It’s even more exciting this year for a few reasons. First, we’re bringing beach volleyball back to its birthplace of Southern California, and second, one men’s team and one women’s team will be the recipients of a very big payday Sunday.”

The Huntington Beach Open is the first California stop and third tournament of the 18-city 2007 AVP Crocs Tour schedule. The series began in Miami (April 13 to 15) and then went to Dallas (April 19 to 22), before opening today in Surf City.

The Surf City event also is the first of the current AVP tour to be played on the beach.

A part of this year’s AVP season is the Cuervo Gold Crown Series, which encompasses the first three tournaments of the 2007 series, concluding with the Huntington Beach Open. The series’ prize — and it’s a whopper — is an additional $100,000 given to the top men’s and women’s teams that accumulate the most points in the three tournaments and is in addition to the money won at the three individual tournaments.

The Cuervo Gold Crown champion men’s and women’s teams will be awarded their hefty paychecks at the conclusion of the Huntington Beach Open on Sunday.

“It’s monumental for us, historic,” Armato said of paychecks that will be the largest winners’ checks ever presented by the AVP.

At last year’s Huntington Beach Open, the team of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser defeated Brent Doble and Ryan Mariano in the men’s final, and the world’s No. 1 team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh swept past Elaine Youngs and Rachel Wacholder to win the women’s crown.

With the win, May-Treanor made history by becoming only the second player to join the women’s $1-million club in beach volleyball earnings.

Top professional beach volleyball athletes included in this year’s open are Rogers, Dalhausser, Stein Metzger, Mike Lambert and beach volleyball legend Karch Kiraly on the men’s side. The women’s side includes May-Treanor, Walsh, Holly McPeak, Youngs and Wacholder.

Kiraly, who has announced that he will retire at the end of the current season, won his last tournament title at the Huntington Beach Open in 2005.

The tournament also has a local flavor to it. A few of those players scheduled to compete are sisters Katie and Tracy Lindquist, who prepped at Ocean View High and still live locally; Huntington Beach resident Saralyn Smith; and Jeff Carlucci, who played on the Golden West College men’s teams that won the programs’ first two state titles in mid-1990s.

All three have played and trained regularly on the courts at the pier.

The Lindquist sisters finished in 17th place in the previous two AVP events of the season, Miami and Dallas, and were seeded 16th in each tournament.

“We weren’t too happy with those finishes, and we’re looking to redeem ourselves at home,” said Katie Lindquist, 29, a Huntington Beach resident and third-grade teacher. “Even though we practice here all the time, it still means a lot to us to play in Huntington.”

The 6-foot-5 Carlucci, 32, who is partnered with Adam Roberts (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), said he’s looking forward to returning to Huntington Beach, where he lived until moving last year to Torrance.

“I love the area, and it’ll be great to go play there again,” said Carlucci, who will be playing in his third-consecutive Huntington Beach Open. “There’s a certain amount of nostalgia associated with beach volleyball in Southern California. We get huge crowds, a lot of pedestrian traffic and there’s a level of excitement there that’s different than anywhere else. Every place we play is unique, but there’s nothing like playing on the beach.”

Smith, also 32, is a transplant from Florida and has called Surf City home for the last three years, saying it’s a place she would “love to never leave.”

She began her AVP career in 2002 and has a finished a personal best ninth-place on five occasions. This year, her partner is Jenelle Koester (San Diego), and both played collegiate ball in Connecticut.

Smith, who juggles her status as a professional beach volleyball player with a career as director of training and development at Velocity Sports Performance, and Koester played together as a team for the first time at Miami. They didn’t play the Dallas Tournament, due to work constraints for Smith.

“I love playing in the warm breezes of Southern Florida,” said Smith, whose boyfriend is Ryan Mariano, a rising star on the men’s side. “I have to admit, there is tension playing there though because starting off the season you are laser-focused and a little on edge; you have a lot to prove, but at the same time, I want to catch up with my family since I don’t get to visit them often.

“Now that the event is in Huntington, that is a whole different sort of excitement. Getting to sleep in your own bed, little-to-no transit time traveling to the beach, familiar sand and sand depth, being used to the wind patterns. Every athlete would agree that playing at home has its advantages.”

Smith and Koester placed 17th in Miami. Smith says the duo is “hungry for a better finish in Huntington.”

The Huntington Beach Open begins today with men’s and women’s qualifying-round competition and is free to the public. Main draw competition runs Friday, Saturday and through Sunday morning.

The men’s final is slated to begin at 2:30 p.m., with the women’s final to follow 30 minutes after completion of the men’s final.

Following today’s qualifiers, Hilton Hotels teams with top AVP players Elaine Youngs (2004 Olympic medalist) and Liz Masakayan to host a youth clinic from 5 to 7 p.m. at the pier. More than 50 county youth ages 12 to 18 will interact with several AVP players in match action and learn the skills of passing, setting and serving during the free clinic. An autograph session featuring several AVP players will follow the clinic.

This year’s AVP tour is composed of 18 stops nationwide. Cities new to hosting tournaments on this year’s tour are Dallas; Charleston, S.C.; Louisville, Ky.; Glendale, Ariz.; Boston; and San Francisco.

Other activities offered this weekend include a Crocs Cup Interactive Volleyball area, Jose Cuervo Cabana, Xbox Gaming Oasis, Herbalife sampling booth, Paul Mitchell Cut-a-thon, Nature Valley Granola Bars sampling booth, the Wilson SpeedZone, Liftoff Sampling Booth, iJoy interactive display area, Barefoot Cellars display and a Nautica product tent.

SCHEDULE

TODAY

Men’s and Women’s Qualifier Competition

Gates open 8 a.m.

Competition: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (approx.)

Admission: free

FRIDAY

Men’s and Women’s Main Draw Competition

Gates open 9 a.m.

Competition: 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (approx.)

SATURDAY

Men’s and Women’s Main Draw Competition

Gates open 9 a.m.

Competition: 9:30 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. (approx.)

SUNDAY

Men’s and Women’s Main Draw Competition

Gates open 9:15 a.m.

Competition: begins at 9:45 a.m.

Men’s final: 2:30 p.m.

Women’s final: 30 minutes after conclusion of men’s final

Ticket Information (Friday through Sunday)

General admission: $20/day

Courtside seating: $40/day

Student/youth*: $10/day

(*must be 18 or under with valid school ID)

Note: Group tickets prices also available. Tickets are available by logging onto www.avp.com.