St. Petersburg, Fla.- September 13, 2013, the Association of Volleyball Professionals set up shop in St. Petersburg, Florida at Vinoy Park for a four day beach volleyball tournament. Olympic champions and local amateurs congregated on the waterfront venue for the internationally televised tournament. The event had quite a turnout, with vendors varying from food trucks to beer stands. Merchandise was being sold from tents and an auction was in place that was selling off signed memorabilia from many of the players. The fans turned out in droves, blocking what seemed like all of the one way avenues that surround the area.

  The three day men’s and women’s event featured names such as the three time consecutive Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh-Jennings, and Florida’s Phil Dalhausser. The brackets featured a split purse of $150,000 that is divided up between the winner’s bracket in both the men’s and women’s brackets.

  The first two days of the tournament contained parties, concerts, and fireworks that filled the park with an excitement that matched the tension of the matches during the day. The third and final day of the event set up the winner’s bracket and matched up two native Floridians against each other in the men’s semi-final round.

  The number 1 seeded tandem of Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Sean Rosenthal battled against third seeded Nick Lucena (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Theodore Brunner. Both Lucena and Dalhausser are products of Florida universities. Lucena is a Florida State University graduate and Dalhausser is a University of Central Florida grad; both of whom established their careers with team USA at multiple international events. Lucena/Brunner bested the number one seed and advanced to the final round against the number two seeded duo of Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson.

  The final rounds started with ceremonies that included a presentation of the American flag by veterans, a performance of the national anthem, and an honorary first serve by the mayor of St. Petersburg, Bill Foster. The final rounds were delayed due to heavy rain storms that postponed both the men’s and women’s finals. The men’s finals started at Vinoy Park but finished in Santa Barbara, California. The women’s final, however, was not played and ended in a tie between the team of Jennifer Kessy and April Ross and the team consisting of Emily Day and Summer Ross (no relation to April). The dynamic duo of Day and Ross were not only able to defeat Kerri Walsh-Jennings and her teammate Whitney Pavlik, but also managed to defeat the gold medalist. Day and Ross were ranked number seven and were going against the most accomplished player of the tournament, and proved that any team can win on any day, rain or shine.