“Beach volleyball returning to Cincy” plus 2 more

Beach volleyball returning to Cincy
Valley's Blair Brown Helps Penn State To Fourth National Title; Named Volleyball Honda Sports Award Finalist
Sports Beat Ground Round to host volleyball leagues

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 12:39 PM PST

From a press release today:

World Class Beach Volleyball Players Return to Cincinnati as the Prestigious US Open Tournament Shifts from California to the Midwest

The U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball, presented by Corona Light and one of the premier beach volleyball events held in the U. S., will be played Sept. 2 – 4 and for the first time the event will converge in the country's heartland, with play set for Hahana Beach in Cincinnati.

In addition to the new venue, players will be competing for a $150,000 purse, a $100,000 increase from last year's U.S. Open in Manhattan Beach.

"Six years ago we were approached by (volleyball great) Karch Kiraly and his team to join forces in creating a beach volleyball event that paralleled successful Open championships that have been part of the sports landscape in golf and tennis for years," said Daniel Kinghorn, Manager-National Sponsorships at Crown Imports.

"Our faith in Karch's credibility and respect for The Elevation Group, USA Volleyball, and Brand X Marketing made this an easy decision as the Corona Light brand and the beach volleyball lifestyle fit perfectly together."

The U.S. Open launched in 2007 as a collaborative effort between Kiraly, The Elevation Group, USA Volleyball and Brand X Marketing, and is joined in 2011 by ReachUSA to further expand this event over the next three years.

"We are excited to continue the tradition of excellence associated with the US Open of Beach Volleyball in Cincinnati," Bob Slattery, president of ReachUSA, said. "Volleyball's growth has exploded in the US over the last 10 years. The 2011 US Open will give attendees a chance to watch, enjoy, and learn from the champions of the sport."

The Hahana Beach location is a 6-acre complex located in Columbia Township (7605 Wooster Pike).

– Enquirer Ed. note: The Association of Volleyball Professionals national beach volleyball tour shut down last Aug. 13 because of financial woes, but many of its top players participated in a Labor Day weekend tourney (the Pro Beach Volleyball Players Championship) at Hahana Beach.

Former Olympians including Misty May-Treanor, Nicole Branagh, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers participated in the 2010 Cincinnati event. No word just yet on which players might participate in the 2011 event, but Slattery said today via telephone: "We're very confident that again we'll have all the top players."

Slattery said Cincinnati landed the 2011 event partially because of its recent, positive history with beach volleyball and relationships with top players.

–Tom Groeschen

Posted in: Updates

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Valley's Blair Brown Helps Penn State To Fourth National Title; Named Volleyball Honda Sports Award Finalist

Posted: 10 Mar 2011 07:16 AM PST

Saturday night Purcellville resident Blair Brown managed to surpass even her most spectacular previous athletic accomplishments, helping her Penn State Nittany Lions teammates win an unprecedented four straight National Women's Volleyball Championship.

The championship round is a best of five contest, but the Lions won three straight over California to gain the championship in Kansas City, MO. Playing for a team that is one of the most dominant women's volleyball forces ever, Brown herself is proving herself a dominant player nationwide.

Brown has been named one of four finalists for the 2010-1011 Honda Sports Award, which determines the top woman collegiate athlete in volleyball. Her competitors include Texas' Juliann Faucette; USC's Alex Jupiter; and Cal's Carli Lloyd, all three of whom she knows well and against whom she has played often. The winner will be a candidate for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award. A member of the 2010 National Championship All-Tournament Team, Brown is the 10th Nittany Lion to be named a finalist for the Honda Award for volleyball.

The 6'5" tall Brown, who was a standout performer on the Loudoun Valley High School girls' volleyball team, helped the school win the Group AA State Volleyball Championship in 2004. In 2004 and 2005, she was named the Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year. She graduated from Valley in 2006. After being red-shirted her first year at Penn State because of an ankle injury, she returned to the court in 2007 and was named to the Big Ten on the all-freshmen team.

Over the past three years, Brown increased her importance to the Penn State team. Her stats and honors are impressive. Earlier this season, she became the sixth straight Nittany Lion to be named the Big Ten Player of the Year. She is a three-time AVCA All American. A three-time All-Big Ten selection, she earned Second Team laurels in 2008 and First Team honors in 2009 and 2010. Brown has started all 37 matches this season and leads the Nittany Lions with 521 kills, averaging 4.24 kills per set on .320 hitting. She is second on the team with 281 digs and 113 total blocks. Her 4.24 kills per set ranks second in the Big Ten and 21st nationally, while her .323 attack percentage ranks ninth in the league. Her 4.72 points per set ranks 18th in the country. Brown earned conference player of the week laurels three times. She surpassed the 1,000 career kills milestone this season and closed out her career with 1,295 kills.

Brown is the 22-year-old daughter of Sgt. Jeff Brown, supervisor of the Robbery/Homicide unit of Criminal Investigations in the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, and Jaima Brown.

Her volleyball coach at Valley remembered his former player with affection. "She was a wonderful young lady, who never lost sight of her family and whom she came from," Laird Johnson said, calling her "gracious" in her approach to teammates and opponents alike.

A popular member of the Valley volleyball team, nevertheless she was also "extremely competitive," he recalled. But it was a competitiveness that never got out of hand. "She kept everything in perspective," Johnson said-no easy feat considering her success.

Much of the credit for Brown being so balanced Johnson attributed to her parents, who "have done everything physically and financially" to support her career as a player. "Early on they realized she was a very special player and athlete, and they supported her 100 percent. They traveled with her everywhere, gave all the support she needed," he said. So did her brother Tyler, a county deputy who played golf at Valley.

And her family was in Kansas City, Jeff, Jaima and Tyler, to see the culmination of Brown's college career.

"It's been a fun, fun ride," her father said Monday, hardly believing that Saturday night's championship win was not the only glittering honor facing his daughter. "It's a tremendous award (the Honda Sports Award) to be considered for," he said.

Fierce competitors all year, the four finalists for the Honda Sports Award nevertheless are friends and hold each other in the highest regard, Jeff Brown said.

One of the highlights the Brown family will take away from the championship occurred on the academic front. Having been injured her first year and red-shirted, Blair Brown is a fifth year senior. Her graduation was set to occur Dec. 18, the night of the finals. Penn State President Graham Spanier is "quite a volleyball fan," Jeff Brown said. When Spanier called Coach Russ Rose to say he would not be able to make the Nittany Lions' final games because of graduation ceremonies, he learned that Brown would not be able to make his graduation event either, as she had her other "graduation" to attend to.

Providing a personal note that touched Brown, her family and her teammates, Spanier came to the team's final practice before boarding the plane to Kansas City wearing his full academic regalia and handing Brown a cap and gown for her graduation, which he performed on the spot at the end of the practice.

"She put the cap and gown over her uniform. You could see her knee pads under the gown," her father said. "We were all totally shocked; she cried, and so did her teammates," he recalled.

"I'm very proud of her, she's a great kid," he said. Right now Brown is being flooded with offers to play professionally, either in the U.S. or abroad, including Brazil and Puerto Rico. But, she's taking a break from it all, although she will make up her mind as to future career choices in a couple of months.

"She's off on vacation, visiting her boyfriend in Switzerland," he said.

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Sports Beat Ground Round to host volleyball leagues

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 02:36 AM PST

Sports Beat Ground Round to host volleyball leagues | Appleton Post Crescent | postcrescent.com

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