Jennifer Kessy

A second chance. A lifelong dream. Jennifer Kessy took advantage of one and made the other come to fruition. Kessy, a Laguna Beach resident, and teammate April Ross are in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The rising duo is one of two teams representing the U.S. in women's beach volleyball. The other is Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, who have won Gold at the last two Summer Games and are going for an unprecedented three-peat. Kessy said that competing at the Olympics has been a longtime quest.

VALLEY CENTER ? Laguna Beach resident Whitney Pavlik and partner Stacy Rouwenhorst finished tied for 13th Saturday at the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Crocs Tour San Diego Open. The No. 15-seeded team, Pavlik and Rouwenhorst defeated No. 18 Sara Dukes and Suzanne Stonebarger, 21-18, 21-12, to begin their tournament. But they then lost to No. 2 Jennifer Kessy and April Ross, 21-15, 22-20. Pavlik is winless in four matches against Kessy and Ross in her career. Pavlik and Rouwenhorst then fell in the contender?

Their 2009 seasons on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Tour have been very different. Rachel Wacholder is just beginning hers, while Laguna Beach resident Whitney Pavlik has been playing for months. But both Wacholder, who graduated from Laguna Beach High in 1993, and Pavlik will be at the AVP Hermosa Beach Open this weekend. Wacholder, 34, is playing in her first tournament of the year after having baby Koa in April. The six-time winner on the tour doesn?t have a bad partner ?

HERMOSA BEACH --- One of the more popular, if not exactly intimidating, nicknames for the new beach volleyball pairing of Rachel Wacholder and Kerri Walsh is “the Mom team.” Both have given birth to a baby boy since April, and they made their debut as a team this weekend at the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Hermosa Beach Open. And, while “the Mom team” showed flashes of what may be a very successful pairing for the rest of the season, No. 3-seeded Wacholder and Walsh settled for fifth at Hermosa Beach after losing to Angie Akers and Tyra Turner, 21-11, 21-10, Saturday morning.

Mike Sciacca Two Laguna Beach High alums nearly took center stage at the Huntington Beach Open last weekend at the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier. Dain Blanton, Class of 1990, and teammate Jeff Nygaard advanced to the men's semifinals where they suffered a tough, 19-21, 21-16, 17-19 loss to eventual champion Jason Ring and George Roumain. Rachel Wacholder, Class of 1993, and Angie Akers, playing for the first time as a team, reached the women's semifinals where they were eliminated by eventual champion Misty May and Kerri Walsh, 15-21, 16-21.

Laguna Beach's Annika Dries has been selected to the USA Women's Senior National Team travel roster for the 2010 FINA World Cup. The tournament will run Aug. 17 to 22 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Dries is one of 14 players to be making the trip. Only 13 players will be selected for the World Cup event. The travel team will train in Hawaii and play in a pre-World Cup tournament in Sydney, Australia, before heading to New Zealand. Team USA will open World Cup play Aug. 17 against Russia.

The will to win carried the U.S. Olympic women's water polo team to a big victory Tuesday. And to an even bigger one Thursday . For the first time in its history, the U.S. women have captured Olympic gold in water polo. The team accomplished the feat by dominating, then holding off, Spain, 8-5, in the tournament final Thursday at Water Polo Arena in London. On Aug. 1, the teams had played to a 9-9 tie during preliminary round competition. Thursday's final, however, wasn't close.

A second chance. A lifelong dream. Jennifer Kessy took advantage of one and made the other come to fruition. Kessy, a Laguna Beach resident, and teammate April Ross are in London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The rising duo is one of two teams representing the U.S. in women's beach volleyball. The other is Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, who have won Gold at the last two Summer Games and are going for an unprecedented three-peat. Kessy said that competing at the Olympics has been a longtime quest.