Beach volleyball: Lewis closing in on $1 million

Joseph Boo

HUNTINGTON BEACH - Brian Lewis has been the perpetual bridesmaid of

the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour this year, but he hopes

things get more serious at the Planters Trail Mix AVP Tournament,

beginning today at Huntington Beach.

The 32-year-old alumnus of Corona del Mar High and Orange Coast College

is the highest-rated American on the AVP tour and has placed in the top

three in all the tournaments this year.

Lewis will look for his first win of the year and second of his career in

the AVP’s first tournament at Huntington Beach. The first main-draw match

is Saturday, with the championship scheduled Sunday at 4 p.m.. All

matches will be held just south of the Huntington Beach Pier.

“I think our chances are pretty good,” Lewis said. “We’re playing

consistently and we’re putting ourselves in position to capitalize on our

chances.”

Lewis and his partner Canyon Ceman, a former setter at Stanford and Mira

Costa High, certainly had a lot of chances, and they have been the most

consistent team this year. They are the only ones not to slip below third

place in a tournament. Their success so far has put Lewis No. 3 and Ceman

No. 4 in the AVP rankings behind Brazilians Jose Loiola and Emanuel Rego.

Lewis’ year includes a second-place finish in the season opener, the

Sunkist Tournament of Champions at Delray, Fla. He had two third-place

results afterward. Their trip to Huntington Beach is the fourth of 12

stops this season.

So far, Lewis has won $25,000 this year, upping his career earnings to

$901,864.

The field in Huntington Beach is missing some notable names because of a

Federation de Internationale Volleyball tournament in Toronto this

weekend.

Loiola and Rego, the FIVB’s top team, as well as Laguna Beach native Dain

Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana, the third-highest rated team on the AVP, all

opted for Toronto to try to earn Olympic qualifying points. Beach

volleyball players can only get to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia

by earning points in sanctioned FIVB events.

Lewis, who competed in the U.S. Trials for a spot on the 1996 U.S.

Olympic team, has pretty much given up on Sydney, even if he is the

top-ranked American. There are no U.S. Trials this year, leaving the FIVB

circuit as the only way to get into the Olympics.

“I’m so far behind the eight ball right now,” Lewis said. “It’s not even

a legitimate process. It’s not feasible to play four or five matches in

between the AVP tour and travel around the world trying to squeeze them

in.”

So Lewis enters Huntington Beach as the top-rated player in the

tournament. Lewis and Ceman’s top challengers will be volleyball legend

Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson, a venerable duo. Kiraly is is currently

No. 7 and Johnson No. 8 in the AVP rankings.