AVP Miami Beach, Florida - April 25-27, 1997

$100,000 Coppertone Championships of Florida at Miami Beach

RESULTS

STEFFES/LOIOLA VICTORIOUS AT THE
$100,000 COPPERTONE CHAMPIONSHIPS OF FLORIDA

Miami (April 27, 1997) -- Jose Loiola and Kent Steffes, the number one seeded team on the Miller Lite/AVP Tour, defeated Mark Kerins and Andrew Smith 15-7 to win the Coppertone Championships of Florida. Stefffes and Loiola have been the dominant duo on the Miller Lite/AVP Tour so far this year, winning four out of five tournaments.

"We really wanted this win in Miami," said Steffes. "It is our goal this year to win as many tournaments as we can and show that we are the team to beat."

The suprise team of the weekend was Kerins and Smith. They upset two of the top seeded teams on the tour this weekend including Loiola/Steffes in the winner's bracket final. Unfortunately they came up short in the final which was a rematch of that game. Steffes and Loiola were out for revenge and pulled away, winning 15-7. It was the first final appearance for Kerins while Smith made his first final appearance since 1991.

The $100,000 Coppertone Championships wrapped up the "Tour Florida" series for the AVP. Steffes and Loiola took three of the four tournaments that comprise the series winning in Riviera Beach, Clearwater and Miami.

The Miller Lite/AVP Tour takes a week off before heading to Dallas, TX for the AVP Open at Dallas. Tickets are available for all events through Tele-charge at (800) 432-7470.

$100,000 total prize money
32 Teams

1st - Kent Steffes/Jose Loiola (1)           $20,000

2nd - Mark Kerins/Andrew Smith (10)          $11,400

3rd - Scott Ayakatubby/Brian Lewis (3)       $ 9,030

4th - Dain Blanton/Canyon Ceman (6)          $ 7,130

5th - Bill Boullianne/Eric Fonoimoana (4)    $ 5,700
5th - Rob Heidger/Troy Tanner (5)            $ 5,700

7th - Randy Stoklos/David Swatik (8)         $ 4,280
7th - Scott Friederichsen/Leif Hanson (15)   $ 4,280

9th - Adam Johnson/Björn Maaseide (7)*       $ 3,090
9th - Lee LeGrand/Matt Unger (13)            $ 3,090
9th - Greg Shankle/Kevin Wong (28)           $ 3,090
9th - Eduardo Garrido/Carlos Loss (31)       $ 3,090

13th- Mike Dodd/Mike Whitmarsh (2)           $ 2,130
13th- Nick Hannemann/Henry Russell (12)      $ 2,130
13th- Brian Gatzke/Jeff Rodgers (14)         $ 2,130
13th- Mike Garcia/Justin Perlstrom (24)      $ 2,130

17th- Ricci Luyties/Kevin Martin (11)        $   950
17th- Aaron Boss/Eric Wurts (16)             $   950
17th- Daniel Cardenas/Jim Nichols (17)       $   950
17th- John Brajevic/Chris Young (19)*        $   950
17th- Mark Paaluhi/Wayne Seligson (20)       $   950
17th- Todd Ahmadi/Curtis Griffin (22)        $   950
17th- James Fellows/Burke Stefko (25)        $   950
17th- Andre Gomez/Dan Vrebalovich (26)       $   950

25th- Eduardo Bacil/Ian Clark (9)            $   500
25th- Albert Hannemann/Jason Pursley (18)*   $   500
25th- Brent Doble/Lance Lyons (21)           $   500
25th- Raul Papaleo/Greg Ryan (23)            $   500
25th- Daxton Holdren/Todd Rogers (27)        $   500
25th- Matt Lyles/Jason Stimpfig (29)*        $   500
25th- Kurt Dumm/Matt Winterburn (30)         $   500
25th- Aaron Smith/David Smith (32)*          $   500

PLAYERS

SEEDING

Kent Steffes/Jose Loiola (1)
Mike Dodd/Mike Whitmarsh (2)
Scott Ayakatubby/Brian Lewis (3)
Bill Boullianne/Eric Fonoimoana (4)
Rob Heidger/Troy Tanner (5)
Dain Blanton/Canyon Ceman (6)
Adam Johnson/Björn Maaseide (7)*
Randy Stoklos/David Swatik (8)
Eduardo Bacil/Ian Clark (9)
Mark Kerins/Andrew Smith (10)
Ricci Luyties/Kevin Martin (11)
Nick Hannemann/Henry Russell (12)
Lee LeGrand/Matt Unger (13)
Brian Gatzke/Jeff Rodgers (14)
Scott Friederichsen/Leif Hanson (15)
Aaron Boss/Eric Wurts (16)
Daniel Cardenas/Jim Nichols (17)
Albert Hannemann/Jason Pursley (18)*
John Brajevic/Chris Young (19)*
Mark Paaluhi/Wayne Seligson (20)
Brent Doble/Lance Lyons (21)
Todd Ahmadi/Curtis Griffin (22)
Raul Papaleo/Greg Ryan (23)
Mike Garcia/Justin Perlstrom (24)
James Fellows/Burke Stefko (25)
Andre Gomez/Dan Vrebalovich (26)
Daxton Holdren/Todd Rogers (27)
Greg Shankle/Kevin Wong (28)
Matt Lyles/Jason Stimpfig (29)*
Kurt Dumm/Matt Winterburn (30)
Eduardo Garrido/Carlos Loss (31)
Aaron Smith/David Smith (32)*

NOTES: Number in brackets "(#)" reflects the teams seeding
        * = Indicates a New Team (from previous week)

Björn Maaseide is Norwegian, and is currently ranked 6th
on the FIVB Tour.

DATE

April 25-27, 1997

LOCATION

   Delano Hotel
   Miami Beach, Florida

PRIZE MONEY

$100,000

TELEVISION

Fox Sports Net

TICKETS

   Telecharge  800-432-7470

NUMBER OF TEAMS, FORMAT

32 Teams
Double Elimination

PAST CHAMPIONS


YEAR EVENT BEGAN: Returning after two-year hiatus