FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Karch Kiraly To Play on the AVP Tour For The Last Time during the AVP Cincinnati Open Presented by Herbalife
 

Retiring pro beach volleyball legend to be honored with a special night

CINCINNATI, April 12, 2007 – Greater Cincinnati volleyball fans will get one last chance to see a legend in action.

Reach Event Marketing, local promoters of the AVP Crocs Tour Cincinnati Open and AVP, Inc., a lifestyle sports entertainment company focused on professional beach volleyball, announced that Karch Kiraly will compete in the regular season Crocs Tour grand finale at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, Aug. 30-Sept. 2.  Tournament officials will honor him with a special night on Friday, August 31.

The 45-year-old Kiraly announced last month that 2007 will be his last season as a player on the AVP Tour as he moves into the role of ambassador for the sport that he helped to make famous.  He is playing in only a select few tournaments this season with Cincinnati being one of those stops.

Entering his 28^th season as a professional, Kiraly has notched 148 tournament victories and has earned in excess of $3 million.  He became the first volleyball player to win three gold medals in the Olympic Games – winning indoor gold in both the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and again in 1996 in the inaugural beach volleyball competition in Atlanta.  Kiraly was inducted in the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2001.

Through the upcoming summer Kiraly said he will conduct clinics and help to organize junior events in conjunction with USA Volleyball while also assisting the top women's team of Misty May and Kerri Walsh.  He will also be launching the Karch Kiraly Volleyball Academy, which will feature a pair of five-day camps for high school girls, as well as the inaugural U.S. Open of Beach Volleyball, a grass-roots tournament sanctioned by USA Volleyball later this year.

Tickets

Tickets for the 2007 AVP Crocs Cup Cincinnati Open presented by Herbalife, held over Labor Day weekend Aug. 30-Sept. 2, can be purchased through avp.com, mustseeavp.com, Tickets.com and at all Meijer store locations in Cincinnati, Louisville, Lexington, Dayton and Columbus. Prices range from $9-$75 with special discounts and various packages available this year.

Schedule

Thursday, Aug. 30 - Qualifier – 8:00 am to approx. 6:00 pm

MAIN DRAW

Friday, Aug. 31 - Day Session - 8:00 am to approx. 6:30 pm - 6 courts

Friday, Aug. 31 - Night Session - 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm - 1 court, 3 games

Saturday, Sept. 1 - Day Session - 9:00 am to approx. 5:00 pm - 6 courts

Saturday, Sept. 1 - Night Session - 6:15 pm to approx. 10:30 pm - 1 court, 3 games

(Women's semifinal at 6:15 pm, Men's final 8:00 pm, Women's second semifinal following Men's final)  

Sunday, Sept. 2 - Day Session - 10:00 am to approx. 4:00 pm - 2 courts - (Women’s final at 2:30 pm)

Defending Champions

Women – Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh

Men – Phil Dalhausser/Todd Rodgers 

Online Information

For updated 2007 event information including sponsorships, hospitality, tickets, schedules and general announcements throughout the year visit the local website at www.mustseeavp.com and national website at www.avp.com.  

About the AVP

AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, Inc. is a leading lifestyle sports entertainment company focused on the production, marketing and distribution of professional beach volleyball events worldwide.  AVP operates the industry's most prominent national touring series, the AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, which was organized in 1983.  Featuring more than 150 of the top American men and women competitors in the sport, AVP is set to stage 18 events throughout the United States in 2007.   In 2004, AVP athletes successfully represented the United States during the Olympics in Athens, Greece, winning gold and bronze medals, the first medals won by U.S. women in professional beach volleyball.  For more information, please visit www.avp.com. 

About Reach Event Marketing 

Reach Event Marketing (REM) is a full-service event marketing company that specializes in organizing, marketing and promoting regional and national events including the AVP Crocs Cup Cincinnati Open presented by Herbalife, AVP Louisville Open, Prep Classic, Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout Luncheon and i-wireless High School Tour.  REM offers strategic marketing expertise at the grassroots level in many areas including the selling of advertising, sponsorship and hospitality packages, ticket sales management, and promotion.  In addition to event marketing the company also publishes Hacks High School Sports Magazine.  For more information, please visit www.reacheventmarketing.com.

Contacts:
 

Sponsorships                           Ticket Info                                Media (Local)

Reach Event Marketing            Reach Event Marketing            Reach Event Marketing

Mario Cicchinelli                        Rocky Reising                           Ed Letsinger

(513) 794-4174                           (513) 794-4176                           (513) 794-4177

mario@reachusa.com                rreising@reachusa.com              eletsinger@reachusa.com

Jennifer Frost                                                                            

(513) 794-4172                                                                          

jfrost@reachusa.com

AVP                                         Investor Contacts                     AVP Media & Credentials

Meg Bruno                                Marie Dagresto                          Kimberly Moran

(310) 426-7157                           (323) 468-2300                           (818)344-6195 X 121

mbruno@avp.com                      avpi@mkr-group.com                  kimberlym@bzapr.com