Eight local up-and-coming beach volleyball players began their school years on winning notes by finishing first in their divisions at the California Beach Volleyball Association (CBVA) Cal Cup Youth Championships held in Manhattan Beach.
Luke Grafton (Hermosa Beach and Dane Johnson (Manhattan Beach) placed first in the boys 14U competition, Blake Markland (Manhattan Beach) and Davis Gillette (Huntington Beach) took top honors in the 16U division and Matthew Reilly (Manhattan Beach) and TJ DeFalco (Huntington Beach) won the 18U division.
Hermosa Beach’s Lindsey Sparks and Cami Sanchez, of Huntington Beach, captured the girls 14U competition and Hermosa Beach’s Zana Muno teamed with Sarah Sponcil (Phoenix, AZ) to win the 18U age group.
Although Bay League rivals during the high school season, Mira Costa’s Skylar Caputo (Manhattan Beach) and Redondo Union’s Abril Bustamante (Redondo Beach) joined forces to win the 16U division.
Just to the north at Dockweiler State Beach, four local players finished as gold medalists at the Amateur Athletic Union Southern Pacific Coed Championships.
In the 17U division, Will Bantle (Manhattan Beach) and Olivia Zelon (Santa Monica) defeated Jackson Wedbush (Manhattan Beach) and Allie Furlan (Manhattan Beach) for the title.
It was an all-Manhattan Beach championship match in the 14U division with Dane Johnson and Pippa Monk-Heidrich knocking off Luke Grafton and Cate Campbell.
In the 12U competition, Maia Hannemann (Hermosa Beach) and Johnny Anselmo (Thousand Oaks) defeated Will Campbell (Manhattan Beach) and Rochelle Scott (Manhattan Beach) in the gold-medal match.
The teams of Jack Walmer (Manhattan Beach)/Talia Genova (Manhattan Beach) and James Kaiser (Torrance)/Savannah Standage (San Pedro) took home bronze medals.
