Former Dos Pueblos High, SBCC and UCSB indoor volleyball player Miles Evans won his first title on the pro beach volleyball AVP Tour the hard way.
Evans and partner Andy Benesh battled back from a first-match defeat and won seven matches to take the championship at the AVP Denver Open on Sunday. They defeated Evan Cory and Bill Kolinske in the final, 22-20, 21-17. The winners split $8,000.
The 6-foot-4 Evans, 32, has been playing in AVP events since 2014, and qualified for his first main draw at the 2016 Huntington Beach Open, where he placed fifth. His best finish was a second at the 2019 Hermosa Beach Open with Ryan Doherty.
He has played most of his professional matches on the international FIVB Tour, where he won an event in the Netherlands in 2021.
Evans and the 6-foot-9 Benesh were the No. 1 seeded team in Denver, based on Benesh’s recent AVP results: a title in Austin, a third place in Muskegon, Mich., and a ninth in New Orleans. Evans placed fifth in Muskegon and 13th in New Orleans.
The pair was stunned in the first round, losing to No. 16 seed Travis MeWirter/John Michael Plummer in three sets.
Evans/Benesh rebounded by winning three matches on Saturday and four on Sunday, including a three-setter over No. 3 seed Paul Lotman/Miles Partain in the semifinals.
In the final, Evans scored the championship point with a cross-court kill.
Evans played at Dos Pueblos before moving on to SBCC for two years. He led the state in kills as a sophomore in 2010. He finished his collegiate career at UCSB, where he played in 48 matches over two seasons.
Evans will be playing at the AVP Pro Series event in Hermosa Beach this weekend.