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Sports

Zuma Beach Welcomes Pro Beach Volleyball

The National Volleyball League's top teams will compete at the Malibu Surf and Sport Festival.

The National Volleyball League will have its first event on California sand this weekend when 32 of its top tandems compete at in conjunction with the Malibu Surf and Sport Festival.

The main draw begins at 9 a.m. Saturday and will continue through Sunday afternoon. The women's final is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and the men's final will start at 4:30 p.m.  

In support of First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let’s Move!" initiative, the NVL is hosting an exhibition match at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday in which the pros will mix with celebrities for a friendly six-on-six game.

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"We are eager to play locally this weekend and bring professional beach volleyball back here to California, known to many worldwide as the sport's true home,” NVL founder and CEO Albert Hannemann said. "It's going to be a fantastic event alongside the Malibu Surf and Sports Festival, which has welcomed us with open arms, and we are extremely excited to host some fun events to raise awareness for the First Lady's fight against childhood obesity."

The men's bracket is stacked with past beach winners. The top-seeded team includes Matt Prosser and alumnus John Mayer, a former AVP Tour champion. The second-seeded team includes Billy Allen and former Olympian Jeff Nygaard. Casey Jennings, whose partner is Andrew Fuller, has won multiple professional beach volleyball tournaments and Mark Williams, who is partnered with Australian Ty Loomis, is also a former AVP champion and two-time Olympian. The duos of Ed Ratledge-Ryan Mariano and Ty Tramblie-Joaquin Acosta are also in the field. 

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On the women's side, Whitney Pavlik and Jenny Kropp are seeded No. 1 while Jennifer Snyder and Angela Lewis are seeded second. Seeded third is the duo of Tealle Hunkus and Heather Lowe, who won the NVL's inaugural event in Baltimore. Also in the main draw to challenge for their share of the $75,000 in prize money are the tandems of Jennifer Fopma-Tracy Jones, Paige Jensen-Erin Gray and Chara Harrie-Megan Wallin. 

The NVL is the premiere professional beach volleyball association in the U.S. Founded in 2010 by 18-year professional beach volleyball veteran Albert Hannemann. For more information about the NVL, its players and the 2011 tournament series, go to www.thenvl.com

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