Miles Evans/Chase Budinger Win First Manhattan Beach Open | Sports

Santa Barbara’s Miles Evans and partner Chase Budinger achieved the dream of a pro beach volleyball player: winning the prestigious Manhattan Beach Open.

Evans/Budinger, the tournament’s top-seeded team, defeated multi-time champions Phil Dalhausser and Trevor Crabb, 21-19, 21-16, on Sunday at the Manhattan Beach Pier. It was their first title; Budinger twice finished as a runner-up.

As champions, Evans/Budinger will have the honor of having a plaque placed on the pier’s Volleyball Walk of Fame with the other men’s and women’s winners.

On the women’s side, top-seeded Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher won their second straight Manhattan Beach Open champions plaque, coming from behind to beat Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft, 15-21, 21-18, 15-13.

Evans, an alum of Dos Pueblos, SBCC and UCSB, becomes the seventh men’s player with Santa Barbara ties to win the Manhattan Beach Open, following Henry Bergman, Karch Kiraly (10-time champion), Dax Holdren, Eric Fonoimoana (UCSB), Todd Rogers (3-time champion with Dalhausser) and Theo Brunner (UCSB; won last year with Trevor Crabb).

“I tried to envision how it would end,” Evans told the media after he and Budinger doused each other and their coaches with champagne. “It’s always different, but it’s such a good feeling. I’m so happy that Chase and I played good volleyball this weekend and, hopefully, this is the beginning of great things for us.”

Evans/Budinger represented the U.S. in beach volleyball at the Paris Olympics last year but didn’t advance to the medal rounds.

In Sunday’s premier event on the AVP schedule, they were on fire. Evans had 17 kills on 23 attempts and zero errors to compile a .739 hitting average. He also picked up 12 digs.  Budinger, a former NBA player, hit .593 with 18 kills on 27 swings and just two errors. He recorded five blocks.

Dalhausser, who won an Olympic gold medal with Rogers in 2008 and is retiring at the end of the season, led his team with 17 kills (on a .696 hitting percentage) and two blocks. Crabb had 11 kills and hit .231.

“It would’ve been nice to go out with a W, but those guys played great,” said Dalhausser,  who was seeking his eighth title. “It’s tough to score points against them if you don’t get them in passing trouble.”