Chris “Geeter” McGee tried it.
Tried it for everyone jammed around center court of the finals of Sunday’s Hermosa Open presented by Wedbush.
“Who,” the retired then un-retired Hall of Fame emcee said, “wants one more set to 15?”
The crowd cheered, an enthusiastic Michelob and Kona-fueled roar. Yes, they wanted more.
They’d just had a double-final, and still, it wasn’t nearly enough.
Because how could anybody not have wanted more of that, after Alison and Alvaro delivered the signature performance of these old school events? They rallied back from the contender’s bracket, dropping their first match on Sunday to Chaim Schalk and James Shaw, only to upset the defending champs, Chase Budinger and Miles Evans, to earn a second go at the No. 2 seeds.
In any other format since 2000, they would have finished third, and it would have been admirable enough.
But the Hermosa Open is not any other tournament.
It is an ode to the old school format and ethos that laid the foundation for the halcyon days of the sport. There is no “Olympic crossover” where a double-elimination suddenly becomes single-elim in the semifinals. No, this is a pure, true, double-elim. Lose twice and you’re out.
Those are the rules.
Alison and Alvaro didn’t lose twice.
They came close.
Oh, did they.
Twice on Saturday alone did they require all three sets to win.
“I’m just trying to survive,” Alvaro joked that night, discovering first-hand why it’s called Survivor Saturday.
After getting swept in the winner’s finals on Sunday morning, 21-16, 21-17, to Shaw and Schalk, they were on their last life. They again required all three sets to beat Budinger and Evans a second time, and in a roundabout way, they required all three once more to fell Shaw and Schalk.
After sweeping Shaw and Schalk, 21-16, 21-17, in the first final, Alison figured he’d won the thing, hadn’t he? Weren’t these the finals?
Indeed. Yet this is a true double-elim. Of the 200-plus tournaments he has played, only once has he played a true double-elim – last year’s Hermosa Open.
This would be the first double-final of his storied career, in his final professional tournament on American soil.
“Literally magical” a coach said of the poetic nature of it.
Because the magic didn’t stop on that first final. It poured on as Alison put up that famous wall of his, roofing Shaw and Schalk again and again and again, a Brazilian phone booth, hanging up on the Americans.
The Brazilians won that second final, 21-14, in a tremendous show of heart and grit and, yes, survival, a more than fitting end to one of the greatest careers we have seen in beach volleyball. Alvaro will continue to play, yes, in that vague, semi-retired way of “retired” beach volleyball players, who can still physically do it but no longer mentally invest everything. He’s a coach at Stetson, and happily so. He sobbed when he and Alison finished ninth in Manhattan Beach, thinking that was the end.
Far from it. Hermosa was the sugar-coated cherry on top, a $25,000 sendoff for Alison, a sweet paycheck to pad to Alvaro’s salary at Stetson.
It’s exactly what the spirit of the Hermosa Open is all about.
Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw celebrate winning the Hermosa Open
Cheng-Shaw finish flawless Hermosa Open on top
It was Kelly Cheng who took advantage of the double-final format a year ago. After battling through the contender’s bracket, Cheng and Sara Hughes beat Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft in back-to-back matches to claim the 2024 Hermosa Open title.
No such theatrics were required this year.
Cheng and Shaw didn’t so much as drop a set, getting stronger as the tournament went on, sweeping top-seeded Cannon and Kraft, 21-19, 21-14 on Sunday morning and capping their perfect run with another sweep in the finals over Geena Urango and Megan Rice, 21-15, 21-15.
It’s the first win of Cheng and Shaw’s partnership, after coming close at the Quintana Roo Elite and Saquarema Elite, where they finished fourth twice. The $25,000 check more than doubles their biggest prize purse of the season.
“Unbelievably impressed with Mark and the tournament he put on,” coach Jordan Cheng said. “It’s so special to get to play at our home beach in front of our home fans. Thankful for Mark for once again putting on this tournament making it better each year.
“The double elimination final is fascinating and the fact that we’ve gotten to see two double final upsets in back to back years has been so entertaining. Was more exhausting than entertaining last year for us but getting to be on the other side of it watching the guys was a blast. There is an elevated pressure that really ups the engagement for fans.
The girls were super impressive this weekend, getting better each match. A lot of great responses throughout the tourney – I thought our mindset before and during each match was the best I’ve seen from this team all year. Excited to carry this momentum heading into Brazil elites.”
For results and updates of the Hermosa Open
Stream the Hermosa Open here
All info is on the Hermosa Open Volleyball Life page.
Check out our preview of Hermosa here.
Check out our qualifier recap here.
