Despite Struggles, Hanan Leads Team to Victory

HUNTINGTON BEACH — For a team that is supposedly struggling, Dan Hanan’s Team Outdoor Products sure is having fun.

That’s because it won its second consecutive Bud Light Pro Beach Volleyball League men’s tournament Sunday at Huntington Beach, edging Bob Ctvrtlik’s Team Discus Athletic, 14-13, in sudden death.

After the teams fought to a 13-13 tie when the nine-minute game clock expired, two-time Olympian Doug Partie of Outdoor Products blocked Ctvrtlik for championship point.

“We’ve been joking about how we’re just squeaking by,” said Hanan, a former Edison High standout. “We barely got into the semifinals then won two more close ones today.”

Outdoor Products reached the semifinal, winning only one of three preliminary matches Saturday, then edged Team Paul Mitchell in Sunday’s semifinal, 15-12, to advance to the championship match.

The sudden-death victory in the final helped Outdoor Products close the gap in the overall points race with only one event remaining, next week in Honolulu.

Although it’s not hard to understand why Outdoor Products is successful--U.S. national team members setter Mike Sealy and outside hitter Erik Sullivan join team captain Hanan and Partie--they’ve still had to deal with an extra distraction for half the season.

Sealy and Sullivan are training daily with the U.S. national team . . . in Colorado Springs, Colo.

So Sealy and Sullivan don’t practice with Outdoor Products and they have to deal with the difficulty of moving from one surface to another.

“Going between playing indoors and the beach throws your timing off a little,” said Sullivan, who had 11 kills and nine digs in the final..

“We just come out to the beach for the weekends, so maybe we’ve been a little more relaxed because we aren’t expecting a whole lot.”

Outdoor Products probably wasn’t expecting a comeback in Sunday’s final after taking a commanding 13-8 lead over Discus Athletic.

Laguna Beach’s Dusty Dvorak made some key defensive plays, then kills by Jeff Nygaard (11 kills) and Ctvrtlik completed a five-point run to draw Discus Athletic even, 13-13.

But Partie’s fifth block in the final ended it, giving Outdoor Products its fifth title this season.

In the women’s championship match, Team Paul Mitchell held off Team Nike, 15-13, to keep its hopes alive for the season’s point championship.

Paul Mitchell took a 10-2 lead over Nike, the current point leader, behind the steady play of middle blocker Diane Shoemaker.

Although Nike rallied, capitalizing on errors to close within 12-11, Paul Mitchell held on.

Notes

Team Norelco in the women’s league is still looking for its first title this season after falling to Team Nike in the semifinals, 15-6. Norelco is the only women’s team without a title this season. “I should get fired,” said Norelco Coach Dan Glenn, who also coaches at Newport Harbor High.