By Kirk Morgan
The men’s and women’s 2019 California Beach Volleyball Association “A” level tournaments were held at Main Beach April 6-7 with great weather and good-sized crowds enjoying some very competitive beach volleyball.
Hometown locals ruled the beach, with Jacquelyn Strawn and Lauren McCarthy taking first in the girl’s division and earning their coveted “AA” beach rating. Laguna’s Ayrton Garcia and Joshua Meiswinkle held off Chris Trauger and Jake Jones from Simi Valley in front of a raucous local crowd to earn their first AA rating.
These beach tournaments are organized and sanctioned by the California Beach Volleyball Association, a grassroots nonprofit supporting the sport of beach volleyball, and the city of Laguna Beach.
Final Results:
April 7 | Men’s
Ayrton Garcia & Joshua Meiswinkel 1 AA
Chris Trauger & Jake Jones 2 A
Ken Holloway & Nick Ramsey 3 A
Joshua McDevitt & Eduardo Mota 3 A
Brett Kirkconnell & Mark McDevitt 5 B
Jason Smith & Nick Collins 5 B
Taylor Storm & Keith Boothroyd 5 B
Andrew Reavis & James Bardin 5 B
April 6 | Women’s
Jacquelyn Strawn & Lauren McCarthy 1 AA
Amber Shaffer & Marya Samuelson 2 A
Danielle Gallo & Sheri Myers 3 A
Alanna Shields & Hannah Ledesma 3 A
Brooke Birch & Victoria Ford Burke 5 B
Taylor Lewis & Jennifer Smith 5 B
Thank you Indy for supporting one of the best sports in Laguna Beach- beach volleyball. Laguna is a small town, but we produce world class art, music, water polo players (who knew?), surfers, mountain bikers, authors and for over 65 years, beach volleyball players. All of the best players have come to Laguna over the years and the Laguna Open is literally the world’s longest running “open” or highest level, tournament. This is really something to be proud of, support, cherish, nurture, etc. The first beach volleyball Olympian, with his teammate Eric Fonoimoana, was Laguna hometown boy Dain Blanton and our last Laguna Open had three Olympians playing in it. I hope you’ll all come out and support the 2019 Men’s $10,000 Laguna Open on June 1-2 and watch Taylor Crabb and Chase Budinger defend their title. See you on the sand! Kirk