HUNTINGTON BEACH – Temecula native Jessica Gaffney, a 2014 graduate of Great Oak High School, competed last weekend for an AVP beach volleyball tournament title. Unfortunately, a first-round challenge took her and partner Carly Kan, out of early contention at the Huntington Beach Open. Gaffney and Kan fell to No. 2 seeded Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss 21-17, 21-19. In their second match, Gaffney and Kan could not find a groove as they dropped both sets to No. 7 seeded Sarah Pavan and Kelly Reeves 21-16, 21-15.
After high school Gaffney went on to play collegiately and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2018. Throughout college, she played four years of both beach and indoor volleyball; two at the University of San Francisco and two at UC Berkeley. As soon as she knew it was possible to play beach and indoor in college, she became obsessed and fell in love with the game the same year she started.
In her first-ever AVP tournament, Gaffney set an AVP Tour record by becoming the lowest-seeded team (84th) to advance from the Qualifier, achieving the feat in Hermosa Beach in 2018. Jessica’s favorite AVP memories include qualifying for her first Manhattan Beach Open Main Draw in 2019 and winning the Laguna Beach Open in 2021.
Last weekend’s AVP Pro Series Huntington Beach Open featured 16-team women’s and men’s fields that competed in a double-elimination bracket across three courts from Friday, May 19, through Sunday May 21. The women’s and men’s brackets each consist of 10 teams automatically entered based on AVP ranking points, two wild cards and four teams who earned entry through Thursday’s open qualifier.
Winners of the event were Orange County natives Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes on the women’s sand court, and top-seeded men Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk. Following the AVP Pro Series Huntington Beach Open, the AVP and the Surfrider Foundation partnered up to host a beach cleanup event Tuesday, May 23, which was very successful.
The 2023 AVP Tour schedule includes 12 tournaments across the country, offering more than $1.5 million in prize money. Four Tour Series events feature 16 or 24-team brackets competing over three days for a $10,000 purse, and four Pro Series events each offer a 16-team draw playing for $125,000 over three days of play.
The three AVP Gold Series tournaments are three-day events with 16- or 32-team brackets and the highest purses of the season at $300,000, and the two-day Championship event invites the top six teams per gender to compete exclusively at the end of the season. To follow all the action, visit the AVP website at www.AVP.com.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedai.com.
