Women’s Tour Opens in Oceanside

A new women’s beach volleyball tour makes its debut today in Oceanside as Beach Volleyball America begins a seven-tournament schedule that continues next week in Santa Monica.

Beach volleyball has been beset by financial problems in recent years, but a busy Southern California season is scheduled between the new women’s tour and the established men’s tour, the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals, which was reorganized last year.

The AVP will conduct local tournaments in Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Barbara, Seal Beach and Manhattan Beach. The BVA tour will play in Oceanside, Santa Monica, Long Beach and San Diego and join the men at Hermosa Beach and Santa Barbara. The other BVA event is at Pismo Beach.

Players trying to reach the Sydney Olympics will have to travel internationally to compete on yet another tour, the FIVB world tour, which determines which teams qualify for the Olympics--the two highest-ranked tandems from each country in FIVB play over the last two years. (The only nearby FIVB tournament is May 31-June 4 at Rosarito Beach, Mexico.)

The Oceanside Open, with a purse of $75,000, begins at 9 a.m. today, with the final scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday. There is no admission charge.

The tournament features the leaders in U.S. women’s Olympic qualifying, Liz Masakayan and Elaine Youngs, followed by Annett Davis and Jenny Johnson Jordan, the daughter of gold medal decathlete Rafer Johnson.

Another pair to watch is the team of 1996 Olympian Holly McPeak and rookie Misty May, the former two-time national player of the year at Long Beach State who left the U.S. national team to pursue a beach career.

McPeak and May, who began playing together last fall, are fifth in Olympic qualifying but have played only two FIVB tournaments together.

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The Facts

This year’s Southern California pro beach volleyball schedule:

Today and Sunday: Oceanside (women)

May 20-21: Santa Monica (women)

June 9-11: Hermosa Beach (men and women)

June 16-18: Huntington Beach (men)

July 7-9: Santa Barbara (men and women)

Aug. 18-20: Seal Beach (men)

Aug. 19-20: Long Beach (women)

Aug. 25-27: Manhattan Beach (men)

Aug. 26-27: San Diego (women)