COUNTYWIDE : Volleyball Players Compete for Titles

More than 130 top amateur volleyball players competed on the sand near the Ventura Pier over the weekend.

Forty-eight teams clashed in the Men’s AAA division, while 18 teams contested for the top spot in the Women’s Open division. Each team had two players.

“California is the mecca for beach volleyball,” said Dale Hoffman, 38, president of the Ventura-based California Beach Volleyball Assn., which organized the event.

The tournament, which began in Ventura in 1988, drew players from as far away as the San Francisco Bay Area and the Mexican border. They competed on 14 courts.

The Open Heart Tournament this year raised about $1,500 for the American Heart Assn. through the $20-per-person entry fees, Hoffman said.

Winners in the men’s category Sunday were Dax Holdren and Todd Rogers, who beat Jeff Bellandi and Marcelo Duarte; all four were from Santa Barbara. The winning scores were 15-9 and 15-2.

Female winners were Kathy Hanley of Santa Barbara and Anna Proussalas of Oxnard, who beat Margo Bierma and Laura Martin of Santa Barbara. Winning scores were 15-9 and 15-7.

More than 1,000 spectators attended the two-day event under sunny skies and near-perfect, albeit windy, weather.

“The level of play continues to improve and gets stronger every year,” Hoffman said. “This has become a well-known national tournament.”

Among those participating was Jose Gandara, 24, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, a UC Santa Barbara student, who just missed making the U.S. Olympic team.

The 6-foot, 5-inch, 210-pound Gandara said playing on sand is far different than playing with five partners on hard wood.

“I’m just learning the game,” he said.