Santa Barbara provides one of the most scenic settings in the beach volleyball world. The Santa Barbara Open has never been just a beach volleyball tournament, let’s be honest. But don’t just take it from me; take it from the energy this gorgeous beach town single-handedly brings to the tour every...

Dianne DeNecochea started the women's trickle down after picking up Brittany Hochevar. The irony behind my current set of circumstances is most definitely of Alanis Morissette quality. I mean, you really couldn’t put together this scenario more perfectly. Instead of my daily Starbucks run, I’ve...

Priscilla Lima passes to Tatiana Minello during Sunday's semifinal in Fort Lauderdale A few teams over the weekend had spectacularly unexpected results. One of those squads was Angie Akers and Tyra Turner. Not that they’re incapable of playing in finals every weekend, because they are, it’s just...

Dalhausser rolling the new Autonomous volleyshorts. Same result... As far as opening day on the AVP Tour goes, I couldn’t be happier examining the newly designed NIVEA-blue player board and its bizarre list of results. Billy Allen and Braidy Halverson, my preseason #10, sitting on fifth, sleeping it...

The 1-2 punch, Rogers vs. Scott. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it’s been for me to come to final terms with this column. I’m not kidding. I’ve hemmed and hawed for days. First off, I’ve played with quite a few of these guys at some point and frankly I’m just not that interested in crossing...

Fort Lauderdale will mark the first event I've missed since 2007. Last Wednesday I strolled along the strand in Hermosa Beach with a giant Wilson bag full of volleyballs strewn across my right shoulder. I was wearing, and I’m not kidding, khakis, a collared shirt, a v-neck sweater and a midnight...

And I’m back. It only took one day apparently. I feel like I should really be living in the city or something, where seasons actually change, striped sweaters are the norm and train stations double as places to “hang out.” Possibly Paris in the fall to get swept away, or to levitate,...

Sometimes a song just hits. For no particular rhyme or reason it just speaks to you. At this particular moment that song for me is “You Make it Real” by James Morrison. I know, shocking, it’s not by a woman that looks like Zooey Deschanel or Nina Persson, but occasionally I’m...

Hometown heroes, Dalhausser and Lucena... In two days, AVP Nation will descend upon Fort Lauderdale’s shore for the first time since 2006 for the season-opening AVP NIVEA Tour Gatorade Fort Lauderdale Open. Sure, we visited Miami from 2007-08, so we’re not exactly strangers to South Florida, but...

Apparently law and music go together like death and taxes. And maybe a little golf... Trevor Ozawa is not a pro beach volleyball celebrity. He’s my brother-in-law, and soon to be attorney-at-law at one of the best firms in the state of Hawaii, Case Lombardi & Pettit. But the guy also has a keen...