The AVPNext Gold New Orleans tournament this past weekend surprised me in a big way. Sure, it had a quality field, with plenty of great stories to be told. And certainly a $20,000 purse doesn’t hurt, plus the all-important AVP qualifying points.
But the biggest surprise was the New Orleans (well, suburban Kenner) southern hospitality. Plus that the country is coming out of the pandemic and yearning to resume life.
Everybody that I talked to had a great time. They might have lost a round or two before they had anticipated, but they all appreciated the chance to compete, to test their skills and athleticism, to do what they had been training for for months.
The mood was overwhelmingly positive and it wasn’t even dampened by a two-hour rain delay Saturday, or a 20-minute lightning delay Sunday. The tournament field and fans had an indomitably positive spirit about them, and it was just a joy to share in that.
And I think that came out in the photos. The fans shared in the players’ joy, especially as locals Kristen Nuss and Evan Cory won.
A particularly funny quarterfinal story comes to mind. The crowd, fueled by a few beers, exhorted Evan Cory to skyball serve. He complied, and went for extra height at the expense of accuracy. The ball landed about 20 feet short of the net, much to the amusement of the crowd.
Not done yet, they encouraged Brad Connors, Cory’s opponent, to skyball as well. And he, too, went for max altitude rather than accuracy. His skyball traveled 30 yards backwards over the fence into an adjacent parking lot, putting the crowd (and Connors) into stitches.

Everyone was ready to have fun, to enjoy a taste of normalcy, to resume the lives that we had previously shared in the singular pursuit of preventing the volleyball from hitting the sand.
I’m not sure how 2021 will go, but if last weekend’s AVPNext Gold in New Orleans was any barometer, we’ll have a blast. I certainly did, and hope to return next year.
Sunday’s photos follow — if you missed Saturday’s photos, they’re here, and our tournament synopsis can be found here.
Apologies to those that I didn’t get a chance to photograph. Hopefully we’ll share other opportunities.
Oh, and if you didn’t make the galleries, all 582 of Saturday’s photos are at VBshots.com, with 517 Sunday photos here.
Click on any photo to view it full size:
- Larissa Franca Maestrini, Liliane Maestrini (if this serve is a hubby-wife in coed, is this a wife-wife serve?)/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Kyle Friend makes a running dig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Eric Beranek tries for the foot save/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Nathan Yang turns one down the line/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Brad Connors hits line/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Paul Lotman overruns the ball but recovers to make a dig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Eric Beranek dives for the tight pass while Piotr Marciniak blocks his progress/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Skyler Germann hustles for a shot/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Eric Beranek passes a short serve/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Evan Cory punches it through the block/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Piotr Marciniak goes high line over Logan Webber/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Megan Gebhard lays out for a low pass/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Katie Spieler celebrates a point/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Brad Connors joins the crowd for a beer during his match/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Evan Cory collapses after winning the tournament/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Evan Cory jumpsets to draw the defense/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Field intercepts a Piotr Marciniak spike/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Kristen Nuss lays out for a shot/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Logan Webber celebrates the tournament win/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Brett Greiner digs a crosscourt spike/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Katie Lindstrom digs in the pouring rain/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Field kongs a Rafu Rodriguez spike attempt/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Piotr Marciniak jousts with Logan Webber/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Troy Field hustles for the dig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Tomas Goldsmith picks up sand in frustration/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Katie Spieler celebrates a Torrey Van Winden block/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Sometimes even twins fight: Veronica Corcoran, Victoria Corcoran/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Eric Beranek spikes against Piotr Marciniak in the semifinals/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Andrew Dentler hits a cut shot/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Evan Cory gets an open net/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Logan Webber hits line during the AVP Next New Orleans men’s final/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- John Hamilton accelerates for the save/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Macy Jerger makes a diving save/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Coconut Beach during the lightning delay/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Larissa Franca Maestrini jump serves/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Piotr Marciniak: is it really a tournament if you don’t get a shot of his signature jump bump?
- Kristen Nuss makes an athletic save/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Standing room only inside Coconut Beach during the 20 minute lightning delay/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Amy Reichel celebrates/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Dillon Cox tosses for his jump serve/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Courtney Baleiko gets underneath the ball to dig overhand/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
- Hailey Harward extends for a dig/Ed Chan, VBshots.com
That cover picture is tremendous.
Well done.