Fourth final the charm for Holdren

He wins against old teammate Rogers

By JOHN ZANT
NEWS-PRESS SENIOR WRITER

SPENCER MARLEY/NEWS-PRESS Jeff Nygaard blocks a hit by Sean Scott during the three-game thriller. Scott's partner, Santa Barbaran Todd Rogers, looks on in the background.

Winning his hometown pro beach volleyball tournament -- Dax Holdren can dig it.

But he'd need a steam shovel to excavate his feelings after he and Jeff Nygaard captured the championship of the AVP Santa Barbara Open on a sizzling Sunday afternoon at West Beach.

"You have no idea ... I can't even say how bad I wanted it," Holdren said.

There was no homecourt advantage. On the other side of the net was Todd Rogers, Holdren's former partner and teammate at San Marcos High.

The two old friends traded their best shots, and ultimately Holdren and Nygaard prevailed over Rogers and Sean Scott by scores of 21-19, 19-21 and 15-9.

The match featured a battle of wits between Holdren and Rogers as they played hit-and-defend against each other behind their strapping teammates. A dig by Holdren in the middle of the third game proved to be a turning point, and Nygaard smoked his last several spikes.

"It's an amazing feeling to win," Holdren said, "but it's a little bittersweet beating Todd."

When both local men made the final, they knew that five years of frustration would end for one of them. Between them, Holdren and Rogers had lost six times in the Santa Barbara AVP finals since 2000. They lost twice as teammates. Holdren and Eric Fonoimoana were upset by Karch Kiraly and Kent Doble in 2002, and last year Rogers and Scott lost to Fonoimoana and Mike Lambert.

"It was tough," Holdren said. "One year we gave up a huge lead."

There was no embarrassment this time. Even in defeat, Rogers said he had a great time.

"At the beginning of the third game, I looked around at the crowd and had a funny feeling," Rogers said. "It was not a nervous feeling, but something like, 'This is where I want to be, on the beach in Santa Barbara, playing in the final with my buddy.'"

West Beach never quite looked like this, with over 3,000 spectators filling the temporary stadium to its absolute capacity and TV cameras beaming the action to Fox sports channels around the country.

"The last couple weeks people were saying, 'How cool it would be for you and Dax to play in the final, but it would be tough to cheer,'" Rogers said.

It wasn't tough for Dax's raucous cousin, Dare Holdren. After one nice point by Dax, there was a delay before the next serve, and Dare's voice boomed out: "It still looks good on the replay!"

"Dare picks his spots," Holdren said. "I pay him in beers. I've been paying nine years now."

The $20,000 winner's check -- split by the two players -- will help Holdren pay off his cousin and start paying his new home mortgage.

It was Holdren's 14th tour victory and Nygaard's seventh, but their first since they started playing together at the 2004 season finale in Santa Barbara, where they took third. They had two runner-up finishes this year.

Both of them played in last summer's Olympics, Holdren placing fifth with Stein Metzger, while Nygaard and Dain Blanton went out in the first round.

Rogers and Scott, who barely missed qualifying for the Olympics, shared $14,000. They were together for the first time since the April 1 season opener because of Rogers' duties as UCSB assistant coach.

Holdren, 32, wouldn't be playing volleyball if Rogers had not recruited him to the team at San Marcos.

"I'm still pissed at Todd for making me play volleyball," said Holdren, who had been an aspiring baseball pitcher. "But not today. How can you beat this lifestyle?"

To keep up their lifestyle, Holdren and Rogers had to adapt to changes in their sport and align themselves with bigger teammates. But the rangy Nygaard and husky Scott essentially canceled each other out at the net, while Holdren (22 kills) and Rogers (21) did most of the hitting in the final match.

They were busy trying to anticipate each other too. Holdren had 14 digs, and Rogers 13.

"Its a mental and physical chess match between us, whatever we play, volleyball or ping-pong," Rogers said.

Rogers varied his hits around Nygaard's block. He had particular success with cut shots down the near sideline. But at 2-2 in the third game, Holdren shifted over to intercept one of those shots. He and Nygaard had the upper hand the rest of the way.

Another strategic moment occurred with Holdren serving at 8-6. Because he felt Rogers "was in a real good side-out rhythm," he served Scott instead. His one-handed dig of Scott's attempted kill led to a point, and Nygaard blocked Scott on the next return for a 10-6 lead.

"That's a backbreaker, when you go up by four or five in the third game," Holdren said.

Holdren and Nygaard began the day by beating Fonoimoana-Lambert 21-18, 23-21 in the winner's bracket final. The defending champions were then ousted by top-seeded Jake Gibb and Metzger, 17-21, 21-19, 15-9.

Rogers and Scott took care of Gibb-Metzger 21-19, 21-14 in the championship semis, while Holdren and Nygaard polished off Paul Baxter and Jason Ring 21-19, 21-12.

Gibb and Metzger were saddled with a jinx -- for 21 consecutive tournaments now, the No. 1-seeded men's team has come up short. The last top-seeded team to win was Holdren and Fonoimoana in the 2003 season opener at Fort Lauderdale.

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