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Sports

Favored Duos Claim First Place

Women's and men's winners of the Manhattan Beach Open will get their name on the walk of fame. Sean Scott/John Hyden and Jenny Kropp/Whitney Pavlik claim championships.

In the world of volleyball, John Hyden has accomplished almost everything; he was a two-time All American in college at San Diego State, a two-time indoor Olympian in 1996 and 2000, a two-time King of the Beach winner on the AVP tour.

But the 38-year-old Sherman Oaks resident had never won a Manhattan Beach Open.

That all changed Sunday as Hyden and partner Sean Scott defeated Brad Keenan and Billy Allen in two games, 21-18, 21-14, in the Manhattan Beach Open - Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Volleyball Series before a raucous standing-room-only crowd.

“It feels so good to finally come out on top,” Hyden said of winning the Open. “I had a lot of family and friends here, my trainers here and I wanted to impress some people. So it feels fantastic to get a win at the biggest tournament in our sport.”

The pair has been unbeatable this summer, winning every tournament they've played in in the U.S. With Hyden able to run down virtually every ball, teammate Scott (Redondo Beach) could concentrate on what he does best, blocking the ball.

“It’s funny because one of the deejays at one of the tournaments started to play ‘Iron Man’ and that’s kind of how it is,” Hyden said of the duo's methodical approach toward opponents this season. “We come out and if we take care of business on our side like we know we can, then we're going to win. And that’s what we did.”

Scott and Hyden disposed of Matt Prosser and John Mayer in the semi-final match to set up the final with Keenan/Allen, who had beaten Ryan Mariano and Ed Ratledge in the other semi-final.

“We knew that to make a living at this sport in a transition year that we needed to win every tournament,” Hyden said. “So we went into this year and said were going to prepare the same way we always do by preparing to beat the best. And that’s kind of what we have done by working hard.”

For Allen, who teamed up with partner Keenan for the first time just days before the tournament, the weekend was like a dream come true, and even in defeat the smile was hard to remove from his face.

“This is probably the most fun I’ve ever had at a tournament,” said Allen, who learned of his partnership during a phone call with Keenan from Europe. “I’m just so glad that Brad and I connected and played this tournament together. We were pretty close to not playing and then decided to play at the last minute. We only had one practice together before the tournament, which was on Wednesday [the day before the tournament started].”

Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik continued their dominant weekend run by dispatching of Jennifer Fopma and Tracy Jones in two games, winning 21-13, 22-20, and earning the right to have their name emblazoned on the pier in bronze. [Jones, a teacher at Mesa View in Huntington Beach, learned that one of her students pitched the winning game to claim the Little League World Series.]

“For this tournament, we wanted to win so bad and get our names on the pier,” said Kropp, who lives in the Hollyglen section of Hawthorne. “There was some definite pressure on us to win, so I’m happy that we played well in the finals and that we pulled out a win. We got it. We accomplished our goal. It feels amazing.”

Kropp and Pavlik, who defeated Brooke Sweat and Kristen Batt in the semi-finals, went up against a familiar foe in the final in close friends Fopma and Jones, who defeated Heather Hughes and Emily Day in the other semi-final, to set up the friendly final.

“It’s kind of bittersweet to win this tournament against them,” Pavlik said. “They are our friends and we spend a lot of time with each other off the court. They are tough to play because they have good blocks and great defense which makes you have to push more. I think we really earned it today.”

More than 35,000 people attended the three-day tournament. Manhattan Beach Police sergeant Joe Aiello said the city had not one arrest related to the tournament in contrast to the Charlie Saikley 6-Man weekend tournament in late July that resulted in at least 35 arrests.

“It has been a wonderful weekend, not just for volleyball but for the city of Manhattan Beach,” said USA Volleyball director Dave Williams. “It was nice to see big time volleyball back in Manhattan Beach. The support from the community has been tremendous and our guys really put a show on for the fans. Hopefully, this a good sign of things to come.”

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The winning duos will have their names enshrined on a permanent plaque on the Manhattan Beach Pier’s “Volleyball Walk of Fame.”

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