Pro Beach Volleyball Spikes Zuma Beach

The National Volleyball League will have its first event on California sand right up the road this weekend when 32 of its top tandems compete at Zuma Beach in conjunction with the Malibu Surf and Sport Festival.

The main draw begins at 9 a.m. Saturday and will continue on through Sunday afternoon. The women's final is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and the men's showdown will start at 4:30 p.m.  

In support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s "Let’s Move!" initiative, the NVL is hosting an exhibition match at 1:45 p.m. Sunday in which the pros will mix with celebrities for a friendly six-on-six game in between the men’s and women’s finals.

"We are eager to play locally this weekend and bring professional beach volleyball back here to California, known to many worldwide as the sport’s true home,” NVL founder and CEO Albert Hannemann said. “It’s going to be a fantastic event alongside the Malibu Surf and Sports Festival, which has welcomed us with open arms, and we are extremely excited to host some fun events to raise awareness for the First Lady’s fight against childhood obesity.”

The men’s bracket is stacked with past beach winners. The top-seeded team is Matt Prosser and Pepperdine University alum John Mayer, a former AVP Tour champion. The second-seeded tandem is Billy Allen and former Olympian Jeff Nygaard. Casey Jennings, whose partner is Andrew Fuller, has won multiple professional beach volleyball tournaments and Mark Williams, who is partnered with Australian Ty Loomis, also a former AVP champion and two-time Olympian. The duos of Ed Ratledge-Ryan Mariano and Ty Tramblie-Joaquin Acosta are also in the field.

On the women's side, Whitney Pavlik and Jenny Kropp are seeded No. 1 while Jennifer Snyder and Angela Lewis are seeded second. Seeded third is the duo of Tealle Hunkus and Heather Lowe, who won the NVL’s inaugural event in Baltimore. Also in the main draw to challenge for their share of the $75,000 in prize money are the tandems of Jennifer Fopma-Tracy Jones, Paige Jensen-Erin Gray and Chara Harrie-Megan Wallin. 

The NVL plans to organize a series of free clinics that will take place immediately following the qualifying rounds for the four remaining 2011 tour events, which are the East Coast Surfing Championships in Virginia Beach, Va. (Aug. 26-28); Concert Series in Aspen, Colo. (Sept. 2-5); Stand Up Paddle Board Championship in Miami Beach, Fla. (Sept. 9-11); and the Sports Challenge and Festival in Long Beach, Calif. (Sept. 23-25). 

The NVL is the premiere professional beach volleyball association in the U.S. Hanneman, an 18-year pro beach volleyball veteran, founded the league in 2010. For more information about the NVL, its players and the 2011 tournament series, click here.