Laguna Open features star-studded field as partners swap for annual event

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — Tim Bomgren and Stafford Slick are both fathers of three, so “our jokes,” Bomgren said, “are better than yours.”

So, too, somehow, will their beach volleyball.

Bomgren’s ability to play beach volleyball at the highest level without many — if any — reps during the off-season, and many of the in-season, months is well-documented by this point. Slick, who retired in 2020, 10 years after making his first AVP main draw, has had enough repetitions by this juncture in his 37 years that, while he may not be in the same shape as, say, the Stafford Slick of 2017, when he won his first AVP, suffice it to say that he’ll be just fine.

“We’ll probably split-block to unleash the sand panther in Slick,” Bomgren said, cracking the first of what should be many jokes this weekend in Laguna Beach. “On a serious note, I’m excited, as we’re a natural fit, left and right side, blocker and defender.”

The fun and talented pairing of Slick and Bomgren, who have never played together before, despite both hailing from Minnesota, is a perfect proxy for the majority of the field of this weekend’s Laguna Open, a $25,000 event that is viewed as almost a high-level exhibition, a reprieve from the full schedule from both the AVP and Volleyball World this season. Five AVP champions are signed up on the men’s side — Paul Lotman, Andy Benesh, Slick, David Lee, Taylor Crabb — yet none are playing with their usual partners. Lotman is seeded first with Troy Field; Benesh fourth with Silila Tucker; Slick fifth with Bomgren; Lee seventh with Seain Cook; Crabb 10th with 16-year-old Ford Harman. Crabb’s usual partner, Taylor Sander, is teaming up with his brother, Brenden, the man behind the camera of so much of their online content this AVP season, in which Crabb and Sander have made three AVP finals.

“It’s the most stacked CBVA of all time but you’ll see players team up that wouldn’t normally play together,” Benesh said. “It’s more of an event that you want to be a part of to enjoy the Laguna Beach volleyball community and wind down after the long AVP season.”

The serious tournaments will resume soon enough, with the AVP Phoenix Championships looming in two weeks, and a full international slate in October and November. That fall Volleyball World schedule has also turned Laguna into a makeshift partnership…