The Manhattan Beach Open is a
beach volleyball 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 Pacific coast south of El Segundo, west of Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, and north of Hermosa Beach. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35 ...
. Held on the south side of the
Manhattan Beach Pier, 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 is now part of the professional volleyball players tour. Today the event is one of the largest on the
AVP tour drawing an estimated 60,000 people. 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. In the 1980s he was a central part of the U.S National Team that won gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games. H ...
, 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 pageList of past winners (5th paragraph)Association of Volleyball ProfessionalsCity 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 in Los Angeles County, California
Sports competitions in Manhattan Beach, California