Wacholder, Youngs second at Chicago volleyball open

Former Laguna Beach High girls’ volleyball standout Rachel Wacholder and her Assn. Of Professional Volleyball teammate, Elaine Youngs, finished second last weekend at the AVP Chicago Open.

Wacholder and Youngs, seeded second, reached the women’s final where they fell to No. 1-seed Kerri Walsh/Misty May-Treanor, 21-14, 21-15.

It was the duo’s fourth, second-place finish in 10 AVP tournaments during the current Crocs Tour. They earned a split of $18,000 for their runner-up finish.

In 10 AVP events this year, the pair also has finished third four times and has won two opens.

Wacholder and Youngs reached the women’s final by defeating No. 6 Tammy Leibl/Diane DeNecochea, 21-14, 21-17, in semifinal round action.

Previously, Wacholder and Youngs had squeezed past No. 3 Nicole Branagh/Holly McPeak in a winner’s bracket match, 21-23, 24-22, 15-13.

Wacholder and Youngs also picked up winner’s bracket victories over No. 31 Angela Knopf/Carrie Wright (21-14, 21-12), No. 18 Brooke Hanson/Logan Tan (21-12, 21-13) and No. 7 Carrie Dodd/Barbra Fontana (21-17, 22-20).

In AVP men’s action, former Laguna Beach standout Dain Blanton and his teammate, Matt Prosser, finished in an eight-way tie for 17th-place.

Blanton and Prosser, seeded 17th, opened play in the winner’s bracket with a 21-14, 14-21, 15-10 win over No. 16 Ed Ratledge/Ty Loomis, but lost their next match to the No. 1 seeded team and eventual tournament champion Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger, 21-16, 21-12.

Blanton and Prosser were eliminated from the tournament following a 21-14, 21-14 loss to No. 18 Albert Hannemann/Scott Wong.

The next AVP event is the Manhattan Beach Open which will be held Aug. 10-13.