I was hired by 11 Management to photograph an AVP Volleyball team for one of the girls sponsors, Bodog.net. It was such a great opportunity because I was able to do what I love (photography) and shoot a sport that I love playing! I have been a competitive volleyball player my whole life up until a couple of years ago and I honestly miss it some times. But I of course love watching it, especially when the team is as talented as Jen Kessy and April Ross!
Now, I normally don't photograph this type of event, but I really couldn't pass this up. Especially with the free trip to Southern California! The AVP tournament was on Huntington Beach and it just happens to be where a couple of my good friends used to live and I absolutely LOVE the area. I only wish I could have spent more time there.
Jen and April ended up making it to the championship match and beating Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh to win the tournament! Misty and Nicole are a very tough team to beat so it was a great match to watch from the sidelines with my Media Credential! Nicole Branagh played volleyball for my alma mater - The University of Minnesota, so it was tough not to cheer for her, but after meeting Jen and April, they are such great people, I think I'll be cheering for them in the months to come and hopefully in the next Olympics??!!
I was able to photograph two of their matches that day, here is one from the first match:
I was trying to get some more artistic shots which included the Bodog logo the girls were wearing because after-all, these photos were for their sponsor!
Here is April sitting on the bench taking a breather and focusing up during the championship match
This is Jen on the sidelines during the championship match!
After Jen and April won, ESPN2 interviewed them, this is a shot of that. They were on top of the world!
And finally, the girls up on the podium popping bottles of champagne in celebration of their win!
After the match, I was informed that this match was aired live on ESPN2! If I would have known, I would have used my DirecTV iphone app to record it at home. But luckily, Matt, the owner of 11 Management found this link for me to watch the entire match. AVP on ESPN.
I'm hoping to photograph these girls again but maybe in just a photo shoot on the beach where I can get some shots that I can actually control:) I have some great ideas that I'd love to execute! Good luck to Jen and April in the future, I'm definitely rooting for you both!
Thanks for reading,