The Manhattan Beach Open is a

beach volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

tournament held annually during the summer in

Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Coastal California, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, and north ...

. Held on the south side of the

Manhattan Beach Pier The Manhattan Beach Pier is a pier located in Manhattan Beach, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The pier is long and located at the end of Manhattan Beach Boulevard. An octagonal Mediterranean-style building sits at the end of the ...

, the Open is the only professional volleyball tournament in which amateurs are able to "place into" the event through pre-qualifying rounds. The tournament began in 1960 starting as an amateur event and, since 1984 has been part of the AVP's season (with the exceptions of 1997 and 1998, 2010, 2011 and 2012 it was presented by Pro Beach, and 2020 when it was not run due to Covid-19). Today the event is the largest on the AVP tour drawing an estimated 60,000+ people over three days. It is the longest-running and most prestigious beach volleyball tournament in the United States. Winners of the tournament are memorialized with bronze volleyball-shaped plaques in the "Volleyball Walk of Fame" mounted on the Manhattan Beach Pier.

Open Champions

The record holder for the most tournament wins by a female is Kathy Gregory, with seven total bronze plaques on the "Volleyball Walk of Fame." For the men, it is

Karch Kiraly Charles Frederick "Karch" Kiraly ( ; born November 3, 1960) is an American volleyball player, coach, and broadcast announcer. He was a central part of the United States men's national volleyball team, U.S National Team that won gold medals at t ...

, who has ten total plaques on the pier. As of 2002 no game for third place was played for both sexes.

Women's results

Men's results

References

External links

USA Volleyball event page

List of past winners (5th paragraph)

Association of Volleyball Professionals

City of Manhattan Beach website for the Open
{{Association of Volleyball Professionals Association of Volleyball Professionals Beach volleyball competitions Beach volleyball competitions in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 1960 Sports competitions in Manhattan Beach, California