Teams battle in Last Rites of Summer beach volleyball tourney
Rising star Lukas Christman was the story of the weekend at the Last Rites of Summer Beach Volleyball Tournament in Rehoboth Beach, as he won the top level of play in men’s doubles Sept. 14, then again Sept. 15 with his coed partner Elaina Millaway.
On Saturday, the 17-year-old teamed with his mentor Cam Rodrigues to grab the Men’s Open Division. The finals match was completed as darkness approached, with Rodrigues and Christman prevailing over Andrew Dentler and Finn Murphy. When asked about the key to the win, Rodrigues simply answered “service pressure,” meaning to serve accurately and aggressively.
On Sunday, Christman teamed with Millaway of Greenwood to defeat Rodrigues and his partner Valerie Sokolow in the Coed Open Division finals. Millaway has achieved considerable success at a young age, and many believe she is on track to be an AVP professional standout in the future.
Rodrigues also had one of the best-on-the-beach partners in Sokolow, who had teamed with sister Annelise to win the Sept. 14 Women’s Open Division.
Besides the finalists, the other two teams in Sunday’s Coed Open Division – Lexi Morrow and James Moyer, plus Annelise Sokolow and Mihail Valchkovski – were each very competitive.
Winners of the premier Women’s Open Division on Saturday were sisters Annelise and Valerie Sokolow. Surprisingly, they had not played much beach volleyball together, and this past weekend was the first time they prevailed over their finals competitors Meghan Shoop and Katie Thompson. The finals game could not have been any closer, with a score of 23-21.
Shoop and Thompson reached the finals after dominating Kelsey Muka and Mary Tittle by a score of 21-7.
In their own semis, the Sokolow sisters squeaked past the young duo of Lucy Jones and Taylor Sourinhong. Asked about the key to their victory, Valerie said they were focused on using the heavy easterly wind to their advantage.
In Saturday men’s doubles, Army veteran Brandon Kober strategized with his partner David Zhou on how to improve their play and start winning. They spoke about reducing unforced errors and did that in Game 2 to walk away with the victory. Kober also spoke of actions he’s taking to get the younger generation to embrace the sport for exercise, camaraderie and fun.
Also on Saturday, father Al and son Michael Dommes joined forces to go undefeated in Pool 1 of Men’s Doubles BB. The Dommes duo made it to the finals and lost a close one to winners Alex Collins and Jeremy Gates. Men’s Doubles BB was the most popular division, with 23 teams.
In Junior Girls Triples for competitors 18 and under, Team Batlas with Emily Denver, Ella Dunn and Juliet Winnington soundly defeated Team MAK with Molly Snyder, Anna Ballinger and Kaitlyn Welsh in the finals.
Also in juniors competition, local players Nadia Ahmed, Quinn Nicholson and Julianne Bounds represented the Dewey-based Sandsharks and won Girls Triples 14U.
Sunday play is generally more relaxed and friendly compared to Saturday, and family members often play together. One inspiring story from Sunday was the three-generation team of Old Dogs and New Tricks, which only had one defeat in pool play, going 5-1. Grandfather Mark Nauman teamed up with his son, Mark, and granddaughter, Katie, to make the playoffs.
Sunday play comprised coed teams, largely doubles and triples, along with seven coed sixes teams.
There were 12 teams in the highly competitive Coed A Doubles Division, which was won by Dean Palmer and Zoe Valan, both from Maryland. It was a hard-fought title where the duo of Carly and Chance Wilken took them to three games in the finals to determine the winner.
In spite of the heavy winds on both days, the tournament was deemed a success by Mid-Atlantic Volleyball officials, and they are already planning ahead for First Rites of Summer 2025.
For more results, go to mavolleyball.org.
