Beach volleyball: Patterson and Gibb, Ross and Walsh Jennings capture titles in H.B.

It was a sweet ending to the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals 2014 tour for the teams of Casey Patterson and Jake Gibb of Huntington Beach, and U.S. Olympians April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings.

Before a full house and enthusiastic crowd Sunday at the north side of the Huntington Beach Pier, Patterson and Gibb claimed the men’s title and Ross and Walsh Jennings the women’s crown at the AVP Championships. The tournament was the finale of a seven-city tour that started in late-May in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Costa Mesa resident Ross, a former Newport Harbor High standout, and Walsh Jennings (Manhattan Beach), won the first final of the day by turning back a spirited performance by Whitney Pavlik (Laguna Beach), a UC Irvine product, and Heather Hughes (Hermosa Beach), 22-20, 21-17, to complete a perfect run through the tour season. An hour later, Patterson and Gibb closed out John Hyden (Sherman Oaks) and Tri Bourne (Manhattan Beach) in a fiery men’s final, 21-16, 15-21, 15-10, to close out the tour with three consecutive tournament victories.

Both winning teams were the top seeds in their respective tournaments, and both survived tough matches to emerge victorious.

For Patterson and Gibb, Sunday’s win was especially sweet, coming on their home sand. A year ago, they were bumped from the Huntington tournament following a semifinal loss.

Their triumph over Hyden/Bourne gave Patterson/Gibb their fourth tourney title on this year’s tour which matched their tour win total from last year.

“It feels amazing to do this here in Huntington Beach,” Patterson said. “We have family and friends here, and we scrapped it out. It’s really sweet especially since we lost in the semis here last year.

“I’ve lived here the last eight years and this is my favorite beach in the world. I’ve been to every beach in the world where they play volleyball, and [Huntington] is the best. I love it here. To win here, is amazing.”

Patterson and Gibb used a 7-2 run down the stretch of the first set to pull out a 21-16 win. The second set featured plenty of drama, especially between Patterson and Bourne, who continually challenged each other and even had a couple of stare-downs between them.

They had seemingly endless encounters at the net, with Bourne winning his share of the battles and Patterson getting timely kills.

“It was all in fun,” Patterson said with a laugh. “It was not malicious. We played together in Puerto Rico and are buds. He blocked me, like, 41 times today. I talk fun trash. It fuels me, makes it better for the spectators and the sport.”

With Bourne having a monstrous game blocking at the net — he had five of his match-high eight blocks in the second set, he and Hyden used a set-ending, 9-2 run to overcome a 13-12 deficit and win, 21-15. Bourne registered two blocks on Patterson to close out the set.

Patterson and Gibb took the lead for good (3-2) in the decisive third set when Patterson sent a kill down the left side. They built a four-point cushion three times (7-3, 8-4, 9-5) before a block at the net by Gibb took the score to 10-5. They were up, 12-9, when a great rally between the teams ended with Patterson picking up a point on a block off Bourne for a 13-9 advantage.

Patterson ended the set and match when he dropped a shot over Hyden for a 15-10 final.

Patterson finished with a match-high 18 kills and also had two aces. Gibb had 10 kills to go with six blocks.

Hyden had 14 kills and Bourne had 13 kills and an ace along with his eight blocks.

“This is real, real special,” Gibb said of the win. “If you knew how much sweat, blood and tears we put into this. We let this tournament slip away from us last year, and we weren’t going to let that happen this year.”

Gibb had a lot of respect for the play of Hyden and Bourne who had won the Milwaukee Open in July.

“This was a great match,” he continued. “They are great players. Tri is a great blocker, and Casey is the best side-out player in the world. I knew [Patterson would] figure it out.”

While posing for photos after their victory, Patterson and Gibb simultaneously kissed the tournament trophy cup at center court.

“This is emotional for me,” Gibb said. “I’m 38 years old and I’m to the point where I cherish things every time I’m on the stadium floor. I don’t know how many more of these I have left.”

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•April Ross wears a key on a chain around her neck with the word, “dream”, inscribed on it. Kerri Walsh Jennings wears the same key, only with the word, “breathe,” engraved on hers.

“Mine means to dream big,” Ross said.

“Mine’s there to remind me sometimes that I need to slow down,” Walsh Jennings chuckled.

The pair came into the AVP Championships showing no signs of slowing down, and were the heavy favorite to win the women’s title. The targeted duo did just that by withstanding all challengers.

Their 22-20, 21-17 win over Pavlik/Hughes gave Ross and Walsh Jennings a perfect seven for seven in tournament finals victories on the current tour. They also attained perfection for the season, finishing 36-0 in match play.

“We wanted this all week,” Walsh Jennings told the crowd after their win.

“We knew coming in that Heather [Hughes] and Whitney [Pavlik] were playing well,” Ross aid. “I really didn’t get to see them play, I did see them a little bit, but I knew that they were scrappy. I was kind of excited to play them in the finals.”

Ross said the play of Pavlik and Hughes was inspiring.

“They are the best defensive team I’ve seen in a really long time,” she said. “With Whitney, I’d give her my hardest hits, and she’d dig them out. I don’t think I figured things out until toward the end of the match. That team played a really great match.”

Pavlik was outstanding, digging ball after ball, always fighting with a smile on her face.

“That was such a fun, high-intensity match,” Pavlik said. “The one thing we can guarantee, is that we always will have smiles on our faces the entire time.

“We were hustling for everything out there. If the ball hit the ground, we hit the ground.”

In the first set of the women’s final, the teams put on a great exchange during a rally with the score deadlocked at 16-16. Hughes, playing in her first AVP final, came up with dig on her side of the net. The ball traveled toward Pavlik who went to her knees to make a dig and send the ball over the net. Both players hustled to their feet but Walsh Jennings was able to slip in a kill toward an open area on the right side.

The rally drew cheers from the stands.

But Pavlik and Hughes weren’t through, however. At game point, Hughes came up with a kill on the right side to tie the score, 20-20. Walsh Jennings answered with an off-balance kill, then an ace serve by Ross, her second of the set, sewed up a 22-20 win.

Ross and Walsh Jennings used a 4-0 run in the second set to come back from a 4-3 deficit to take a 7-4 lead which they wouldn’t relinquish. Pavlik was all over the court in the set, digging balls and continuing rallies to keep she and Hughes in contention. Ross and Walsh Jennings, however, scored three straight points later in the set with a no-look shot by Walsh Jennings to end the run and giving them their largest lead, 18-12.

Ross finished the match with a put away shot down the right sideline. She had a match-best 18 kills with three aces.

Walsh Jennings had 10 kills and two blocks.

Pavlik had eight kills, one block and three aces, and Hughes finished with 15 kills, one block and an ace.

Sunday’s final marked the first time on the current tour that Pavlik and Hughes, playing in their fourth tournament, had reached a women’s final. Their previous best finish was third place.

Ross and Walsh Jennings have little time to celebrate: the two are off to Brazil for an international tournament next week.

Ross said she was leaving Sunday night for South America.

“I’m glad we get a little break now,” she said, with a laugh, of the AVP season.