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September 29, 2007
Tournament Roundup
With the dawning of a new era of beach volleyball in Arizona, thanks to the time and effort of Jeff and Marina DeWit, the AZBVA had its inaugural AVPNext sanctioned event at Victory Lanes Sports Complex in Glendale, Arizona. The opening tournament brought out over 45 teams in 5 divisions of play, including Mens Open, A and B as well as Womens Open and A/B, which is a recent record for Arizona volleyball tournaments.
The mens open division, finished like most tournaments of the AZBVA's predecessors, with Rico Becker and Eric Burness defeating team Vinsanity, Vince Rooney and Vince Zanzucchi in two games 21-19, 21- 13. However despite the top two teams seeing typical results, tremors of a new age are starting to evolve out of the new organization. Young guns Alex Dale and Tanner Crandell shared the 3rd place slot with Shawn Coates and Brandon Porter. Unlike the well established Coates and Porter, it was Alex and Tanners first semi final appearance. The AZBVA sat down with Alex Dale to hear about his experience.
How did it feel making your first semi finals appearance?
"IT FELT GOOD TO BE PLAYING THAT LATE IN THE DAY RATHER THAN WATCHING. WITH TANNER AS MY PARTNER, I WAS EXPECTING TO HAVE A DECENT FINISH."
 Your game, particularly this tournaments finish has shown a steady elevation in your game since this spring. What did you do over the summer to reach this level?
"I JUST TRIED NOT TO LET TOO MANY CONSECUTIVE DAYS GO BY WHERE I DIDNT PLAY ANY VOLLEYBALL. I SPENT THE SUMMER IN HB, AND PLAYED PRETTY MUCH EVERYDAY. I TRAINED WITH SOME CHUMPS IN MANHATTAN BEACH TOO DOING DRILLS AND PLAYING GAMES. THAT WAS PROBABLY THE MOST HELPFUL. LISTENING TO EXPERIENCED PLAYERS AND WATCHING THE MOST TALENTED IS IMPORTANT TOO. OTHER THAN THAT, I JUST TRY TO PLAY AGAINST THE BEST COMPETITION I CAN HERE IN AZ."
What kind of conditioning and training did you partake in?
"DRILLS THIS SUMMER IN MANHATTAN BEACH. AFTER WORK, PRACTICE MY JUMP SERVE UNTIL THE LIGHTS GO OUT AT 10:30. WEDNESDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY AT THE RANCH. STRETCH EVERYDAY. LIGHT WORKOUTS IN THE GYM. OCCASIONAL PLYOS. WATCH WHAT I EAT, NO SODA, PLENTY OF WATER. PRACTICE SETTING IN A BASKETBALL HOOP AT THE ASU GYMNASIUM."
You took on a defenders role primarily throughout the tournament, how do you feel playing behind a block like Tanner Crandell's?
"TANNER IS A GREAT PLAYER AND TEAMMATE AND IS ONLY GOING TO GET BETTER. NOTHING TURNS AROUND A GAME LIKE A DEVASTATING ONE HANDED SWAT FROM HIM. ITS A LOT OF FUN PLAYING WITH SOMEONE WHO CAN GET UP THAT HIGH. I KNOW HE IS GOING TO TAKE CARE OF HIS PART, SO I JUST HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DIGGING UP WHAT GETS AROUND HIM, WHICH IS NOT TOO MUCH. IM JUST GLAD I DONT HAVE TO PLAY AGAINST HIM."
The way Tanner thunders balls it must've been fun setting him?
"AGAIN, ITS A REAL MOMENTUM CHANGER WHEN THAT BIG LEFT HAND COMES OVER THE TOP AND CRUSHES THE BALL. IT REALLY GETS THE OTHER TEAM THINKING. IF IM SIDING OUT WELL, THE OPPONENT DOESNT REALLY HAVE ANOTHER OPTION UNLESS THE BLOCKER WANTS A BROKEN THUMB (SORRY MIKE)."
You faced Rico Becker and Eric Burness in the winners bracket semi-finals, what will it take to beat those guys and can anyone in Arizona do it
"RICO AND ERIC ARE VARSITY AND EVERYONE ELSE IS JV. THATS JUST THE WAY IT IS. ESPECIALLY AT THESE TOURNAMENTS. NOBODY IS MORE PREPARED THAN THOSE TWO. IT WILL TAKE A LOT OF HARD WORK AND THE RIGHT PAIRING TO EVEN TAKE A GAME OFF THEM IN TOURNAMENT PLAY. A LOT OF PLAYERS ARE GETTING BETTER AND ITS JUST A MATTER OF WHO IS WILLING TO PUT IN THE TIME AND HARD WORK IT TAKES TO BEAT THE BEST AND BE THE BEST. RIGHT NOW THOUGH, RICO AND ERIC ARE THE WILLING."
During your run was fatigue a factor in your later matches?
"NOT PHYSICAL BUT MENTAL FATIGUE. I LOST FOCUS IN THE SEMIFINALS AND IT COST US ANY SORT OF OPPORTUNITY TO WIN."
Alex Dale and Tanner Crandell's tournament run:
Winner Bracket Round 2: def Dustin Brown / Brad Gilbert 21-14, 21-9
Winner Bracket Round 3: def Blake Kuchar / Chris Lishko 21-19, 21-19
Winner Bracket Round 4: Lost Rico Becker / Eric Burness 14-21, 15-21
Contender Bracket 5th Place: def Jeff Brand / Dustin Brown 22-20, 21-15
Semi Finals: Lost Vince Rooney, Vince Zanzucchi 10-21, 7-21
You lost to the 1st and 2nd place finishers respectively. Both finalists have won open tournaments before, do you think experience played an important role?
"I THINK EXPERIENCE LEADS TO CONFIDENCE WHICH PLAYS AN IMPERATIVE ROLE. TANNER IS SUCH A GOOD PARTNER THOUGH THAT I THOUGHT WE HAD A GOOD CHANCE TO WIN BOTH MATCHES. I GUESS IT WOULD BE BETTER TO ASK THE TEAMS THAT WON IF EXPERIENCE PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE."
Best and worst moments of this tournament?
"I GOTTA SAY THE BEST WAS WHEN JEFF HAD EVERYONE COME OVER TO WATCH OUR MATCH AGAINST RICO AND ERIC. ALL FOUR OF US THAT WERE PLAYING WERE HAVING FUN. UNFORTUNATLEY, I THINK IT ELEVATED RICO'S GAME A LITTLE. HE'S ALREADY A TOUGH ENOUGH OPPONENT AS IT IS. THE WORST PART OF THE TOURNAMENT WAS THAT T-HIG (Tim Higgins) WASNT THERE. WHAT A SHAME."
A summer in California and a return with a semi final finish, experience is something 26 year old Alex Dale is quickly gaining. Watch out for Alex and Tanner to try and better their best in our next AZBVA tournament November 3rd at Victory Lanes Sports Complex in Glendale, Arizona.
Anything else you'd like the Arizona volleyball society to know?
AS LONG AS TANNER DOESNT ROLL ANOTHER TRUCK, WE'LL BE BACK IN NOVEMBER AND LOOKING TO BE TOURNAMENT CHAMPS!
COME BACK MATTY FRENCH!
Also, notable finishes in the mens open David Brown and Will Dietz climbing back from an early first round loss to claim a 7th place finish. Jeff Brand and Dustin Brown also made a solid run finishing with a 5th place finish after losing in the 3rd round of the winners bracket. Still continue to watch out for young up and comer, 16 year old Jeff Dumbrell who finished at a competitive 13th.
Womens Open finishes, Kristy Kuehn and Livia Peace defeated Krista Wishmeir and Lindsey Aitchison to take home the first womens title.
Mens A finishes, Kreig Johnson and Stephen Feasor defeated Brian Horne and Cory Romine to take the Mens A division championship and giving Kreig and Stephen their earned AA rating. Open teams be ready to see the two of them pushing through the ranks on November 3rd.
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