Scott, Davis awarded Best of Beach titles
By Leila Wai
Advertiser Staff Writer
It was a showcase of interesting match-ups at the AVP Best of the Beach championships at Queen's Beach yesterday.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
On the men's side, former Punahou teammates Sean Scott and Mike Lambert teamed up to give Scott the title, and on the women's side Olympic gold medalist Misty May helped Annett Davis defeat May's teammate Kerri Walsh for the win in front of 1,000-plus fans.
Annett Davis, right, and Misty May beat Kerri Walsh and Elaine Youngs in the final of the Best of the Beach Championships.
In the topsy-turvy, round-robin, partner-switching tournament, Scott and Davis were crowned the Best of the Beach after three days of matches.
Scott and Lambert defeated Jake Gibb and Todd Rogers, 15-21, 22-20, 15-9. Davis and May defeated Walsh and Elaine Youngs, 21-12, 15-21, 15-6.
"This tournament, to win in it, is unbelievable," said Scott, a Kailua native. "To do it in front of my friends and family, it's the ultimate for me."
After two rounds of pool play, Scott and Gibb emerged as the top two men. Gibb chose Scott's regular teammate Todd Rogers; Scott chose Lambert. Players were unable to choose their normal partners, but could choose from any of the players participating in the tournament, which featured the top 16 men and women on the AVP tour.
"He is by far the most dominant player in the world," Scott said of Lambert. "He's doing things no one else on the sand is doing."
Lambert said Scott owed him a couple of rounds of beer as a reward, but said: "I was stoked when he chose me. It was an honor."
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
It was the first time Scott had competed on Hawai'i sand since 1996 — when he won the Aloha State Games and Emporio Armani Hawai'i Beach Volleyball State Championships.
Annett Davis, left, attempts to hit past Kerri Walsh at Queen's Beach in Waikiki. Davis partnered with Misty May to beat Walsh and Elaine Youngs in three games. Bottom: Sean Scott, left, chose fellow Punahou School graduate Mike Lambert and beat Jake Gibb, right, and Todd Rogers in three games.
Scott and Lambert dropped the first game to Gibb and Rogers, and kept the second game close, but caught fire after being down 17-15. They scored four straight points to make it 19-17, and didn't relinquish the lead for the rest of the match.
"Mike and I kept talking, and we decided I would focus on siding out and he would work on blocking Jake," Scott said. "Mike's had a lot of success in the past in blocking Jake."
Lambert, who had three blocks in the final game, said the home crowd behind them gave them the momentum they needed.
"We were down one set and we were struggling," he said. "But with the home crowd, and being on our own soil, we knew we would get momentum. To be there side-by-side and come out on top is what it's all about."
Like the men's final, the women's match — with Davis and Walsh the top women advancing out of pool play — went three games.
May and Davis came out hot in the first, 21-12, but Walsh and Youngs — 2004 Olympic bronze medalist and Walsh's pick — fired back in the second, 21-15. May and Davis, with the benefit of five errors by Youngs and Walsh in the third game, ran away with the final game, 15-6.
"It's an honor," Davis said. "I didn't go out thinking I was going to win ... but I hoped."
Davis became the first woman since Aug. 24, 2002 not named May, Walsh, Youngs or Holly McPeak to win an AVP tournament. She was also the last person, with Jenny Johnson Jordan, to capture a title.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
It was the first match this tour season that May and Walsh faced each other.
Sean Scott, left, chose fellow Punahou School graduate Mike Lambert and beat Jake Gibb, right, and Todd Rogers in three games.
"I said, 'I don't like it very much,' " May said. "I told Elaine, 'It was like me and Kerri playing against them (Youngs and McPeak) in the Olympics.' It was a very stressful situation."
May, who hadn't won a match previously in the tournament, helped hand Walsh her first defeat of the tournament.
"I finally won a match," May said. "I didn't want to be a loser."
Davis, holding her son Mya , 3, during the awards ceremony, thanked May for "helping Mya's college education fund."
Scott and Davis both earned $19,750.
"When money is on the line for another person," May said. "I didn't want to mess up."
AVP commissioner Leonard Armato said he would push to bring the tournament back to Hawai'i next year.
"We believe it's a perfect fit," he said.
Reach Leila Wai at lwai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2457.
