GOLD RUSH ON THE BEACH AGAIN! CROCS AVP PRO BEACH VOLLEYBALL TOUR


LOS ANGELES ' Update 2007 ' The AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, Inc. Schedule is out

05/03 - 05/06 AVP Cuervo Gold Crown Huntington Beach Open Huntington Beach Pier Huntington Beach CA

Sandwiched between stops in Dallas, TX and Glendale, AZ, the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball 2007 season will feature Karch Kiraly's last hurrah as he announced in Huntington beach recently that he's ending his career after he completes the 2007 volleyball tour. 148 tournament victories,  U.S. National team member, who won gold in both the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and again in 1996 in the inaugural beach volleyball competition in Atlanta,  Kiraly was inducted in the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2001, earning the additional honor as the greatest men's volleyball player in the sport's first century.

With all that said, there are some dynamo players returning to the beach for another season. Favorite women players include Misty May-Treanor and Holly McPeak. The Huntington Beach stop will be broadcast on FSN, while other California stops in Long Beach and Manhattan Beach will include NBC broadcast coverage. The tour begins in Miami from April 13-15 and concludes the regular season from Aug. 30-Sept. 2 in Cincinnati with 18 events, two more than last year. The Crocs Cup awarded to the top male and female teams will be presented in Cincinnati with two additional beach volleyball events to follow.

Huntington Beach was nearly excluded from this year's line up when the event planners were denied requests to charge for admission. (Coastal regulations do not permit fees charged for events on public beaches.) In negotiations and reconfiguration of the tour season a deal was struck to keep HB as a stop.  In fact, it was Huntington Beach (Duke's HB at the Pier) where Karch Kiraly announced he'd be quitting.

The AVP Tour experienced a 53 percent increase in its fan base in 2006, according to Scarborough Sports Marketing. Continuing development of several promoter relationships has aided in bringing the AVP to additional cities around the country.

"With a growing fan base, increased sponsorship and a growing tour schedule, we are excited to commence the 2007 tour season in Miami this April," said CEO and Tour Commissioner Leonard Armato.

One of the big storylines of the season revolves around Misty May-Treanor, who is closing in on the women's record for most titles in a career. Holly McPeak holds the mark at 72. May-Treanor starts the year with 69 career wins.

If May-Treanor were to win the opening four events, she would break McPeak's mark at the Glendale, Ariz., event. Ironically, McPeak won her first title in Arizona.

The signature event of the regular season will come when the players descend on Manhattan Beach in early August. Manhattan Beach, which has a rich tradition in the sport, is considered the Wimbledon of beach volleyball. Every winner has his or her name engraved on a plaque on the Manhattan Beach pier.

"To win there, you pretty much climb the ultimate mountain," AVP tournament director Matt Gage told AVP.com. "You've made the ultimate achievement in the sport. The only thing that might compare to it is winning in the Olympics."

Karch Kiraly has long been a dominant figure at Manhattan Beach as well as many other venues. Kiraly has eight Open titles at Manhattan Beach and two more Best of the Beach titles. Kiraly has 148 overall titles, more than any other player.

All 18 events will be televised on NBC or Fox Sports Net. Among the new additions from the '06 schedule are Miami, Dallas, Glendale, Louisville, Tampa, Charleston, S.C., Long Beach, Calif., Boston and San Francisco. Tickets to all 2007 Tour stops are available at www.AVP.com.



About the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, Inc.

AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, Inc. is a leading lifestyle sports entertainment company focused on the production, marketing and distribution of professional beach volleyball events worldwide. AVP operates the industry's most prominent national touring series, the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, which was organized in 1983. Featuring more than 150 of the top American men and women competitors in the sport, AVP staged 14 events throughout the United States in 2005. In 2004, AVP athletes successfully represented the United States during the Olympics in Athens, Greece, winning gold and bronze medals, the first medals won by U.S. women in professional beach volleyball. For more information, please visit www.avp.com.