Mid-Atlantic Volleyball held its First Rites of Summer volleyball tournament May 9-10 in Rehoboth Beach. About 50 nets were set up on Friday for weekend games with more than 650 players of all ages and skill levels participating. 

A well-attended beach volleyball clinic led by Dave Fischer of University of North Carolina - Wilmington along with Isabella Borgiotti of Tennessee Tech took place Friday. In the women's top-tier open finals held Saturday, Alexis Keeter and Elaina Millaway prevailed over Maddie Brunick and Valerie Sokolow in a hard-fought contest for the title of best on the beach after surviving the playoff rounds.  

In the men’s open finals that day, the young team of Carson Barnes and Ayden Keeter went undefeated in both pool play and in the playoffs to prevail as champions. Barnes, 22, hails from Ocean View and is becoming known in pro beach volleyball, with some success in the Association of Volleyball Professionals pro tour. Partner Ayden Keeter, 21, also aspires to make a mark in the AVP. Also in the men’s open finals were Cam Rodriques and partner Lukas Christman, both players with roots in coastal Delaware. 

Sunday competition consisted of coed play including mixed doubles, triples and sixes. Only two teams registered in the top coed open division, so they merged and played against the coed doubles A teams.  Cameron Rodrigues teamed with Valerie Sokolow to create a formidable open team, as did Lukas Christman paired with Elaina Millaway. Both teams went undefeated at 8-0 in their respective pools.  In doubles coed A, the finalists were Maria Kowal and Nate Wunderli, who defeated Camila Zevola and Kevin Logran. 

In the coed sixes division on Sunday, Kelly James joined her son Brandon Kober, his wife Kari and their daughter Quinn on the Glitter Dumpling team. For James, it wasn’t so much about winning; it was about spending a special Mother’s Day with her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.  

“It was wonderful to be able to play with my granddaughter and see how supportive all the other teams were in cheering her on,” she said.  

This was MAV’s 41st year and 39th FROS tournament in Rehoboth. The next and final beach tournament of the year will take place over the weekend of Sept. 19-20.