Boys HS beach volleyball continues growth in San Diego, Orange County, L.A.
In the past 10 years, Southern California high school coaches have formed high school club beach volleyball leagues that run from six to eight weeks in the fall.
With high school girls beach volleyball becoming a CIF sport, there is hope the boys will become a sanctioned sport.
In San Diego, Orange Country and Los Angeles, club boys high school leagues and tournaments have been making the case. This report highlights some of those results.
San Diego
Cathedral Catholic won the end-of-the-year team tournament, its league and finished 9-0.
Cathedral was led by seniors Lenny Liem and Alex Engles and while they took the team title, Carlsbad seniors Parker Tomkinson and Hayden Hewitt the pairs title.
“After a long first day of pool play and four playoff matches on day two, it was a relief to walk away as tournament champions,” Tomkinson said. “I am grateful Coach Jones put on this tournament and I hope that boys beach volleyball becomes a sanctioned sport in San Diego,” said Tomkinson.
Coach Jones is David Jones, who has been teaching and coaching indoor varsity boys volleyball at La Jolla High School for over 25 years. Many of his players have gone to play in college. Ten years ago, Jones started a boys beach league.
“It’s been great to see the level of competition grow, natural rivalries build, watch the addition of non-indoor volleyball players/athletes delve into the sport, and the continued growth of the love for the game,” Jones said.
Many of the dominant teams reside in the North County, including Cathedral Catholic, Carlsbad, La Costa Canyon and Torrey Pines. Jones places each high school in a league that geographically makes sense. In late August the schools start training, and the season is complete by the end of October.
Every team is placed in one of four postseason brackets, depending on where it finishes in the league standings. After the team championship, each school sends its top pair to the tournament that crowns the best duo in San Diego County.
In the inaugural 2013 season, 13 high schools participated. By 2023, there were over 500 athletes playing varsity and JV at 26 participating schools in four leagues throughout San Diego County.
Liem, whose Cathedral Catholic team won the tournament, said practices were very competitive and it paid off.
“Our squad was open to playing with different partners. That was one of the main reasons we won the championship,” Liem said. “Our 3 seed formed a new partnership that started just before the playoffs and proved stronger than before.”
Team results
1. Cathedral Catholic
2. Torrey Pines
3. San Dieguito Academy
4. Scripps Ranch
5. Westview
6. St. Augustine
7. Clairemont
8. University City
Top San Diego players
(A poll of many of the coaches helped us create this list)
Brayden Aries, Sr., La Jolla Country Day
Caden Chaing, Sr., La Jolla Country Day
Christian Connell, Sr., Torrey Pines
Alex Engles, Sr., Cathedral Catholic
Chase Estrin, Soph., San Dieguito Academy
Greyson Glorieux, Jr., Coronado
Adam Gushkevich, Soph., La Jolla
Charlie Hartmann, Sr., Sage Creek
Hayden Hewitt, Sr., Carlsbad
Lenny Liem, Sr., Cathedral Catholic
Brandon Pho, Sr., Torrey Pines
Charlie Salmon, Jr., Sage Creek
Danny Sawyer, Sr., Poway
Jake Streitman, Jr., Pacific Ridge
Brennan Schmidt, Sr., La Jolla
Matthew Sedano, Jr., Francis Parker
Matty Slentz, Sr., Coronado
Mike Smith, Jr., Francis Parker
Alex Sundell, Soph., San Dieguito
Parker Tomkinson, Sr., Carlsbad
James Whitehead, Sr., Poway
Hudson Yockey, Fr., Bishop’s
Logan Yockey, Fr., Bishop’s
Safin Zaslansky, Jr., Pacific Ridge
Orange Country
Dan Glenn, who coached the indoor girls and boys volleyball for 31 years at Newport Harbor High School, has been running a high school boys beach league for programs in Orange County. Glenn. Two years ago, he retired from teaching and has continued coaching the Newport Harbor boys beach club team.
Ten years ago, it was a challenge to schedule matches due to limited court space. Now the 16 varsity and 18 junior varsity teams compete at six beaches in Orange Country. Glenn has most athletes play 2 vs. 2 and he includes a 4 vs. 4 match to make that league unique. The league goes for six weeks, followed by playoffs.
Newport Harbor beat Huntington Beach for the title behind seniors Riggs Guy and Grayson Springbom.
“We dominated this year due to our competitiveness,” Guy said. “Our squad is loaded with talent, and we all contributed to our success of winning a championship,” said Guy.
Each program sent their top two pairs to Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach’s Bennet Tchaikovsky and Jake Pazanti won, beating Nathan Jackson and Ben Winokur of Edison for the title. Guy and Springbom finished third.
Top Orange County teams
Corona Del Mar
Crean Lutheran
Edison
Huntington Beach
Laguna Beach
Mater Dei
Newport Harbor
Santa Margarita
Tesoro
Top performers
These were the top pairs in the tournament and were part of the top pairs at their school.
Sterling Foley, Sr., Corona Del Mar
Nathan Jackson, Jr., Edison
Riggs Guy, Sr., Newport Harbor
Jake Pazanti, Sr., Huntington Beach
Grayson Springborn, Newport Harbor
Bennet Tchaikovsky, Sr., Huntington Beach
Ben Winokur, Sr., Edison
Los Angeles
The Interscholastic Beach Volleyball League season lasts six weeks and includes Mira Costa, Peninsula, South and Palisades. During the six weeks, these four teams compete and there are two tournaments after that include more high schools.
One of the tournaments is a pairs championship, while the other is to crown the top team.
The competitions were played at Hermosa, Dockweiler and Santa Monica beaches.
Mira Costa finished first in the IBVL standings at 7-1. Mira Costa’s top pair was Charlie Coordt and Johnny Dykstra.
“At the end of the season, a pairs tournament was formed with over 32 teams to see who the top high school pair in the Southern California area. Johnny Dykstra and I had a blast playing against high-level competition,” Coordt said. “It was a great feeling winning the tournament.
While Mira Costa has historically dominated the IBVL and won the tournament, Santa Barbara won the pairs tournament first-place trophy. Raglan Kear and Ford Harman were the top performers for Santa Barbara.
Schools competing in the end-of-season tournament were Mira Costa, Palos Verdes, Peninsula, Redondo, San Marcos, Santa Barbara, South, St. Francis, Windward and Wiseburn DaVinci.
Top performers
Drew Blair, Sr., Redondo Union
Charlie Coordt, Sr., Mira Costa
Zach Chapin, Sr., Mira Costa
Johnny Dykstra, Sr., Mira Costa
Thatcher Fahlbusch, Jr., Mira Costa
Shane Friedman, Jr., Redondo Union
Mateo Fuerbringer, Fr., Mira Costa
Luke Goldmann, Sr., Redondo
Ford Harman, Sr., Santa Barbara
Drake Harris, Jr., Peninsula
Raglan Kear, Sr., Santa Barbara
Cooper Keane, Jr., Mira Costa
Robert Michael, Jr., Peninsula
Carter Mirabal, Soph., Redondo Union
Kale Shelor, Sr., Mira Costa
Malakai Tuakoi, Soph., Wisburn Da Vinci
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