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Barbra Fontana:
 
Barbra Fontana
United States  
  
 
Vital Statistics
 

Photo: Ken Delgado
Birth Date September 8, 1965 (59 years old)
Home Town Manhattan Beach, CA
Resides Manhattan Beach, CA
Height 5'6"
College Stanford
  Best Finish Winnings
United States 1st (15 times) $656,945
   AVP 1st (2 times) $317,848
   AVP HWN* 1st $25,750
   BVA 1st (3 times) $34,500
   P&R 3rd $0
   Star Games 3rd $13,000
   USAV 1st $26,250
   WPVA 1st (9 times) $233,723
   Bonus Money   $5,875
International 1st (5 times) $374,510
   FIVB 1st (5 times) $320,960
   Bonus Money   $53,550
Overall 1st (20 times) $1,031,455
 
Bio Bits

Beach Bits:

• Fontana has the distinction of being the only partner to play with Annett Davis besides Jenny Johnson Jordan, playing in one FIVB event in 1998.
She has been ranked in the top 10 in season points four times on the AVP Tour as well as five times on the WPVA Tour.
Fontana is one of 12 U.S. women to play in the Olympics in beach volleyball, and she has partnered with six others during her career.

2008: Continued her partnership with DeNecochea, advancing to four semifinals. In the season finale in Glendale, she became the seventh woman to surpass $1 million in career earnings. Fontana was seventh in digs per game (5.85).  2007: Reunited with DeNecochea, playing in nine Final Fours including one championship match. During the season Fontana played three events with Alicia Polzin, including one semifinal. She ended the year seventh in digs per game (5.76).  2006: Returned from a year-long maternity leave, forming a new partnership with Carrie Dodd, finishing fifth twice. The duo also played one FIVB event, then Fontana played once internationally with April Ross. Fontana ended the season fourth in digs per game (5.68).  2004: Played with Kessy, advancing to four semifinals including one championship match. They also played twice internationally. Fontana was fourth on the AVP in digs per game (5.11) and eighth in kills per game (6.63).  2003: Returned from maternity leave to play in three domestic events, including twice with Jennifer Kessy, and once international tournament.  2002: Began playing with Dianne DeNecochea and in their first three AVP events they placed second each time. The duo had one other semifinal in their seven tournaments. On the FIVB Tour the pair had a best of fifth place twice in their eight tournaments.  2001: Won in her first tournament with Elaine Youngs, on the BVA Tour. In four team AVP events, they made the semifinals each time, winning in Manhattan Beach and Fontana ended as the top-ranked player on tour. The duo twice won internationally.  2000: Won twice on the BVA Tour with Arce and had a second-place finish on the USA Volleyball Tour, then at the end of the season made her AVP debut with a victory in the Queen of the Beach event. Fontana and Arce had one second-place finish in 10 FIVB events, and she ended the season with a tournament with Liz Masakayan.  1999: Began a partnership with Lisa Arce, and in their first domestic tournament together they won. Internationally they had a best of third in seven events.  1998: Competed just once domestically, placing third in an individual event. Internationally she and Hanley had five semifinal appearances in seven events together, winning once.  1997: Fontana and Hanley had four second-place finishes domestically. On the FIVB Tour, Fontana played with three partners, including Hanley, getting a best of fourth with Nancy Reno.  1996: Played with Hanley and four times on the WPVA Tour. Internationally, played three times with Hanley, with a best of fifth, prior to the Atlanta Olympics, where the duo finished fourth.  1995: Won the season opener with Forsythe, but the pair was unable to return to a championship match in their next eight WPVA events. Fontana played the last four events with Cammy Ciarelli, placing second in the season finale. On the FIVB Tour Fontana and Forsythe were in the semifinals in five of 10 events, then in the last event paired with Linda Hanley for the first time and won the title.  1994: Playing with Forsythe, the pair finished fourh or better in 12 of 13 team events, winning twice while playing in eight finals. Fontana won the individual event in Powell, Ohio. On the FIVB Tour the pair had semifinal appearances in all five events, winning in Osaka.  1993: Teamed with Lori Forsythe, and following a fifth place finish in their first event, advanced to 12 consecutive semifinals. She tallied her first career victory in Austin, winning in a double final, and they played in seven championship matches. The duo played one international event, placing seventh.  1992: Fontana paired with two different partners for four tournaments, and 12 events with Deb Richardson. The duo played in three semifinals with a best of third.  1991: Played the first three events with two different partners before partnering with Holly McPeak, advancing to one semifinal.  1985: Played one event, placing third with Debbie Black.  1984: Fontana played her first pro beach volleyball event while still a student at Stanford, finishing fifth.

Hot Winter Nights: Played in six events in 2008, winning in her first competition in Minneapolis. She played in the finals of three other events as well. In 2009 she played in two HWN events.
 

College: Fontana was a four-year starter at Stanford where she was an All-League player and team captain as a senior. Stanford advanced to the Final Four in each of her four seasons there.

Personal:
Fontana has three sisters and one brother, and her family serves as her role models. Fontana graduated in 1987 from Stanford and earned her law degree from Santa Clara in 1991. Fontana, who was on the Santa Clara Law Review, passed her California bar examination in 1992. With her husband Gil Horta, she gave birth to her first son (Lucas) in April 2003, then returned to the court in August of that year. She took the 2005 season off as well as she gave birth to a second son (Giovanni) in May 2005.

 
 
Awards
 
  • CBVA Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame 2014
  • WPVA Best Defensive Player 1993, 1994
 
Career Summary
 
United States
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Money Points Rank 12th 13th 17th 25th 33rd CQ
1984 P&R 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0 0 0 0
1985 P&R 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0 0 0 0
1991 WPVA 17 0 0 0 1 4 1 3 0 3 0 $12,660.00 224.0 12th 0 4 1 0 0 0
1992 WPVA 16 0 0 1 2 3 0 1 1 7 0 $17,225.00 244.0 15th 0 1 0 0 0 0
1993 WPVA 14 1 6 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 $23,580.00 336.0 3rd 0 0 0 0 0 0
1994 WPVA 14 3 6 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 $52,425.00 422.0 3rd 0 0 0 0 0 0
1995 WPVA 13 1 1 2 0 4 1 1 0 2 0 $21,950.00 188.0 9th 0 1 0 0 0 0
1996 WPVA 14 4 5 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 $72,987.00 352.0 2nd 0 0 0 0 0 0
1997 WPVA 12 0 4 2 2 2 0 1 0 1 0 $35,020.00 292.0 4th 0 0 0 0 0 0
1998 Star Games 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $13,000.00     0 0 0 0 0 0
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Money Points Rank 12th 13th 17th 25th 33rd CQ
1999 AVP 5 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 $19,100.00     0 0 0 0 0 0
1999 USAV 3 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 $16,250.00 374.0 7th 0 0 0 0 0 0
2000 AVP 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $25,100.00     0 0 0 0 0 0
2000 BVA 6 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 $27,000.00 376.0 2nd 0 0 0 0 0 0
2000 USAV 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 $10,000.00 255.0 5th 0 0 0 0 0 0
2001 AVP 5 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 $27,900.00 630.0 1st 0 0 0 0 0 0
2001 BVA 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $7,500.00 80.0 5th 0 0 0 0 0 0
2002 AVP 7 0 3 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 $24,150.00 827.0 7th 0 0 1 0 0 0
2003 AVP 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 $3,090.00 259.0 42nd 0 1 0 0 0 0
2004 AVP 11 0 1 3 0 4 1 1 0 1 0 $28,912.50 1,309.0 9th 0 0 0 0 0 0
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Money Points Rank 12th 13th 17th 25th 33rd CQ
2006 AVP 15 0 0 0 0 2 0 9 0 4 0 $33,400.00 1,448.0 14th 0 0 0 0 0 0
2007 AVP 18 0 1 9 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 $74,775.00 2,194.0 5th 1 0 0 0 0 0
2008 AVP HWN* 6 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 $19,500.00     0 0 0 0 0 0
2008 AVP 17 0 0 4 0 5 0 4 0 2 1 $59,825.00 1,966.0 13th 0 1 0 0 0 0
2009 AVP HWN* 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $6,250.00     0 0 0 0 0 0
2009 AVP 13 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 5 0 $24,245.00 2,000.0 22nd 0 2 2 0 0 0
2010 AVP 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $1,100.00 215.0 89th 0 1 1 0 0 0
Total
(Rank)
  220
(2nd)
15
(21st)
32 40 7 40 3 28 1 28 1 $656,944.50
(8th)
13,991.0   1 11 5 0 0 0
 
International
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Money Points Rank 12th 13th 17th 25th 33rd CQ
1993 FIVB 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 $1,375.00 7.0 19th 0 0 0 0 0 0
1994 FIVB 5 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 $19,000.00 97.0 7th 0 0 0 0 0 0
1995 FIVB 11 1 0 1 4 1 0 1 0 1 0 $34,000.00 139.0 6th 0 0 2 0 0 0
1996 FIVB 8 0 0 0 1 2 0 4 0 0 0 $55,300.00 510.0 16th 0 1 0 0 0 0
1997 FIVB 7 0 0 0 1 3 0 1 0 2 0 $27,800.00 523.0 13th 0 0 0 0 0 0
1998 FIVB 8 1 1 0 3 1 0 2 0 0 0 $56,000.00 952.0 5th 0 0 0 0 0 0
1999 FIVB 7 0 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 $32,750.00 740.0 11th 0 0 1 0 0 0
2000 FIVB 11 0 1 0 0 3 0 4 0 2 0 $38,000.00 1,038.0 13th 0 1 0 0 0 0
2001 FIVB 10 2 2 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 $88,750.00 1,426.0 5th 0 0 0 0 0 0
2002 FIVB 8 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 5 0 $18,785.00 550.0 23rd 0 0 1 0 0 0
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Money Points Rank 12th 13th 17th 25th 33rd CQ
2003 FIVB 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $1,750.00 30.0 143rd 0 0 0 1 0 0
2004 FIVB 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00 9.0 180th 0 0 0 0 1 1
2006 FIVB 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $1,000.00 30.0 185th 0 0 0 1 0 1
Total
(Rank)
  81
(140th)
5
(49th)
5 7 14 16 0 13 0 10 0 $374,510.00
(60th)
6,051.0   0 2 4 2 1 2
 
 
 
 
Overall
Total
(Rank)
  301
(2nd)
20
(27th)
37 47 21 56 3 41 1 38 1 $1,031,454.50
(15th)
20,042.0   1 13 9 2 1 2
 
* AVP Hot Winter Nights events are exhibitions and only count for tournaments played and prize money won.
 
Red denotes ranked 1st
 

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