A tour de force

Mike Sciacca

Sheer will and determination have gotten Casey Jennings on the Assn.

of Volleyball Professionals tour.

His talent is a given and his volleyball resume is impressive, but

still he has had to prove himself time and again to get where he is

today.

Jennings, 25, isn’t unlike many of the athletes fighting to get on

board this tour.

Two weeks ago, the Huntington Beach resident and his playing partner,

Sean Rosenthal, had to survive a qualifying event at the Sideout Assn of

Volleyball Professionals Hermosa Beach Open, just to make it to the

weekend’s tournament action. The duo survived what Jennings called a

“lion’s den,” where 45, two-man teams were fighting to advance. Jennings

and Rosenthal won four consecutive matches and were one of four teams to

advance in the tournament, where they placed 17th.

But more importantly, they secured a main draw spot at last weekend’s

Paul Mitchell Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Huntington Beach Open at

the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier.

Jennings and Rosenthal combined tenacity and finesse to place ninth

overall in an event won by the team of Scott Ayakatubby and Eduardo

Bacil.

Despite the showing, the match that stuck in out in Jennings’ mind was

a Sunday 8 a.m. loss to the Scott Davenport/Jeff Nygaard tandem.

“I was mad all day after that match,” Jennings said. “It bugged me

because I really felt we should have won it. I expected us to keep

winning.”

The funny thing is despite that loss, Jennings, who said he has always

wanted to be a professional volleyball player, has found a way to win.

Those winning ways began at Clark High in Las Vegas, where Jennings

helped guide the school to a Nevada state championship. At 17, he packed

his bags, and with $200 in his pocket, headed to Huntington Beach.

“It was my dream to play beach volleyball, and this was the place to

be,” Jennings said. “I love it here in Huntington, and also in Hermosa.”

Jennings’ dream suffered its first few setbacks early. He had to

overcome a “botched” tryout at Long Beach City College, then tried out

for and made the squad at Golden West College. However, he came down with

mononucleosis and had to leave the team and return to Las Vegas to

recuperate for the next four months.

“I was really down after that, but I knew I’d come back,” said

Jennings, who made a spurt from 5 feet, 11 inches his senior year in high

school, to his current height of 6 feet, 3 inches. “I headed back out to

Huntington Beach after I got well, and was determined to succeed.”

During this time, he went back to training on the beach. He didn’t

have a playing partner and said he had to “beg” for games.

Jennings first played at California junior college volleyball power

Orange Coast then transferred to Golden West to play for Mike

D’Alessandro, whose Rustlers had just defeated Orange Coast in the state

championship match.

Jennings, who was moved from setter to outside hitter at Orange Coast,

went on to win a state title at Golden West. That same year, he and good

friend, Scott Lane, were named co-MVP’s at the state tournament.

Suddenly, bigger schools took notice. Cal State Long Beach, UC Irvine

and Brigham Young University made offers, and Jennings took off to play

in Provo, Utah for the Cougars.

In his first year, the Cougars won the national championship.

He left Utah this past January, and will finish his courses at Cal

State Long Beach. He is just five classes short of obtaining a degree in

sociology. He wants to be a motivational speaker one day.

But for now, he’s one of the new guys on the professional circuit. He

also keeps busy by coaching the Cal State Long Beach Club team with Joy

McKenzie. The team of 14- to 15-year-olds will compete in the upcoming

Junior Olympics.

He’s trained with Huntington Beach’s Brian Lewis, of whom he said he

learned “more in a short period of time, than at any other time,” trades

pointers with girlfriend Kerri Walsh, who teams with Misty May in the

Federation of International Volleyball and recently, has been working out

each Tuesday with three-time Olympic gold-medalist Karch Kiraly and Brent

Doble on Capistrano Beach.

One of Jennings’ primary goals is to make the 2004 U.S. men’s Olympic

volleyball team.

“This is just a great and exciting time for me,” he stated. “Playing

two-on-two is very different from six-on-six. In this game, you need to

do well in all aspects: serving, passing setting and hitting.

“When you’re on the tour, you can make it anything you want it to be.

For me, my goal is to have a great time playing but at the same time, I

want to be successful. I’ve been surrounded by positive influences. There

are other goals in life for me but come summertime, my focus is playing

on the circuit.”

And so, the Jennings’ tour continues. He and his playing partner

continue to garner important ratings points and move up in the rankings.

No surprise there.

Next stop: Muskegon, Michigan, as the Assn. of Volleyball

Professionals tour continues July 13-15.