The Extreme Volleyball Professionals Pro Beach Volleyball Tour will return to Tybee Island for a second consecutive year Saturday. The two-person team format of the Pro-Am event will feature 24 pros (12 apiece in the men’s and women’s divisions) playing for a purse of $5,000. Each first-place pro team will get $1,000.
Pro play will begin at 8 a.m. near the pier and pavilion. All amateur divisions will begin at 9 a.m. The championship finals are projected to start at 3 p.m. (amateur), 4 p.m. (women’s pro) and 5 p.m. (men’s pro), EVP Tour Director Carlos Jimenez said. Admission is free.
Last year, Calvary Day School volleyball coach Tracy Blair teamed with Brittany O’Neil to win the women’s pro division championship, 21-14, 18-21, 15-12, over Jill Cox and Robin Mignerey. In the men’s pro division, Brian Tillman and Chris Keen defeated Osvaldo Perez and Pedro Penate, 21-11, 22-20, to win the title.
“Last year was our first time there and everybody enjoyed it,” Jimenez said. “All of the pros that came down to the event thought it was great, and also because it coincided with the Beach Bum Weekend. They really enjoyed that little festival, plus the area is great.”
Jimenez said he would like to see Tybee Island become an annual stop on the EVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. “It’s definitely something that we’re looking to next year,” he said. “From the city side, they will be looking at the event in terms of attendance and in terms of the economic feasibility.”
Greater Savannah Sports Council Director Ben Wilder said the date for the one-day tournament last year and this year was intentionally selected to coincide with Tybee Island’s annual Beach Bum Parade and festivities to have a built-in audience.
“We would like to see it be an annual event as well,” Wilder said. “It just comes down to scheduling and funding, all the moving parts, to make it happen. Year One was great. Year Two sounds like it will be just as good if not better. We’re looking forward to it.
“We haven’t signed a long-term contract. Right now the contract is on a year-to-year basis.”Tybee Island is among 15 cities on the EVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. The EVP is based in Chicago. The season-opening event was held last weekend at Panama City Beach, Fla.
“Typically, it’s early for beach volleyball, so most of the events happen down here in the South,” Jimenez said. “Panama City was a small event. It was an invitational that we do with Watercross, so it’s jet skis at the same time as the beach volleyball competition.
“In the amateur division, we have six different divisions for this event. We’ll have players that are just starting at the beginner level. We’ll have players at the intermediate level, and the ones trying to get into the pro division.”
Jimenez said Blair is unable to defend her Tybee Island championship because she is pregnant. He said the team of Chestnut Livermore and Lorelee Smith is considered a favorite to win the women’s pro division.
Jimenez said last year’s men’s pro division winners, Brian Tillman and Chris Keen, will return but with different partners. “I think the favorites to win it this year are Eli Masud and Kevin Lorenz from the Chicago area,” he said.