AVPNext Semi-pro Circuit closes Florida swing

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – The AVPNext Semi-pro Circuit, a program offering elite up-and-coming amateur beach volleyball competitors the opportunity to compete on the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, continues its inaugural season as it closes a run through Florida. Sanctioned by AVPNext, East End Volleyball’s $45,000 Big Shot Volleyball Series concludes with the March 29-30 Big Shot Open at Jacksonville Beach, Fla. The event is part of a seven-tournament swing that eventually determines which male and female teams earn automatic entry into the Main Draw of the April 4-6 Paul Mitchell Fort Lauderdale Open, the first stop of the ten-stop 2003 AVP Nissan Series. AVPNext, the developmental program of the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, selected EEVB (offering events in areas on the eastern seaboard, Northeast and mid-Atlantic), California Beach Volleyball Association, Colorado Professional Volleyball Association and the Toyota Tour (mid-Atlantic) as the associations most qualified to take part in the AVPNext Semi-pro Circuit’s trial season. The top ranked men’s and women’s team from each selected AVPNext Semi-Pro Circuit association, meeting the necessary requirements, receive an automatic entry into the Main Draw of a predetermined AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour event during the 2003 season. Additional information for the tournaments is available at 631-728-0397 or www.eevb.net. The top men's competitors participating in the Florida swing include South Carolina's Jake Elliott and New Jersey’s Jim Walls. The top women include former European professional player Laura Romeika, Florida state champion Wendy Martin, Paula Roca and Franci Rard. In the most recent March 22-23 event in Delray Beach, Fla., Joe Rohr and Matt Henderson won the men’s championship while Roca and Gracie Santana-Baeni took home the women’s crown. The title was the first for the men’s team and third for the women while competing in the Big Shot Volleyball Series. AVPNext Semi-pro Circuit contestants earn points that determine a player’s national ranking and are applied toward entry into the Sept. 12-14 AVPNext U.S. Amateur Championships in Santa Barbara, Calif. where the male and female winners receive automatic entry into the main draw of the first four AVP events of the 2004 season. 2003 AVPNext Semi-pro Circuit (Florida) Remaining Events March 29-30: Jacksonville Beach, Fla. Event Champions March 1: Miami Beach, Fla. (M): Jake Elliott, Jim Walls (W): Paula Roca, Gracie Santana-Baieni March 5: Holiday Isle, Fla. (M): Adam Roberts, Matt Heath March 8: Siesta Key, Fla. (M): Jake Elliott, Jim Walls (W): Paula Roca, Gracie Santana-Baieni Men's Rankings Player Pts. Jake Elliott 105 Jim Walls 90 Adam Roberts 71 Matt Heath 71 Joe Rohr 62 Nick Lucena 55 Women's Rankings Player Pts. Paula Roca 51 Gracie Santana-Baeni 51 Francie Rard 34 Wendy Martin 28 Teri Van Dyke 27 Laura Romeika 23 ~Jeff David 310-426-8000

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