SEASIDE – The legendary team names synonymous with beach volleyball usually include “May/Walsh,” “McPeak/Youngs,” and “Kiraly/Johnson,” just to name a few.

In the annual Seaside Beach Tournament, team names are more along the lines of “The Jumping Ninjas,” “Stubs & Bubs,” “Angry Dolphins,” or the “Jamaican Hopscotch Mafia.”

Not exactly names we’ll see in the Summer Olympics, but, hey, beach volleyball is beach volleyball, no matter where it’s played.

Take a beach, a couple hundred volleyballs, 90 nets and close to 2,000 participants, and you’ve got the self-proclaimed “largest amateur participation beach volleyball tournament” in the world.

Yes, right there on the sands of Seaside.

With music blaring and the action heating up on center court, the crowd rises to add to the suspense during a quarterfinal match Saturday.

Photo by ALEX PAJUNAS – The Daily AstorianThe city hosted the 28th annual event over the weekend on the beach area in front of the Turnaround, drawing players, fans and curious onlookers to the North Coast for three days.

And while the weather was a bit under the weather the first two days – and a shark sighting in the surf forced people out of the water Sunday – there was still plenty of volleyball on the beach to go around, from sun up to sun down.

With his back to the net, Jason Lockett sends a shot up for teammate Jordan Poyer during competition Friday.

Photo by ALEX PAJUNAS – The Daily AstorianFor some, the annual beach tournament is a tradition. It just wouldn’t be summer without playing in “The Beach.”

Diana Lilley of Astoria is a regular at the event, “since about 1986,” she said. “I’ve at least played four’s (four-on-four) or something every year. It’s always good to see my friends every year.”

Lilley was actually a last minute replacement this year for Wade Larson – a longtime doubles partner with Janice O’Brien.

Astoria High School’s Danielle Moyer, left, and Haley Larson make sure a serve doesn’t go unreturned in Sunday’s four-on-four competition.

Photo by GARY HENLEY – The Daily AstorianAn injury kept Larson sidelined, and O’Brien got the go-ahead to add Lilley as her partner in the Coed Masters division.

“We played in the old days together, in six’s,” O’Brien said. “I look forward to it, just because of everybody that’s playing in our age group. We get to play the same people who come back every year, so you know everybody.”

O’Brien has “missed a couple tournaments, but not too many.”

Doubles partners Kevin Jagger and Jordane Marxer, right, collide while going for a ball in Friday’s pool play action.

Photo by GARY HENLEY – The Daily AstorianBoth Lilley, O’Brien and numerous other competitors noticed a sharp decline in participants this year.

“It’s the economic times,” O’Brien said. “If you’re coming from California, you’re probably not driving, so there’s plane fare and motel. It gets pretty spendy.”

Jeremy Irey, of Seattle, Wash., lets out a roar as he and teammate Scott Behrbaum have the momentum coming down the stretch in a decisive Game 3 during quarterfinal action Saturday at the Seaside Beach Volleyball Tournament.

Photo by ALEX PAJUNAS – The Daily AstorianNot far from where Lilley and O’Brien were playing on the north end of the beach, Warrenton’s Jordane Marxer and Astoria’s Kevin Jagger were competing in their first year as partners in the Coed A division, as team “Snake Bite.”

“I’ve played here the last five or six years,” said Jagger, who graduated from high school in Spokane, Wash.

“I played beach when I was 12 or 13, but I haven’t played since,” added Marxer, who went on to play four years of varsity volleyball at Warrenton High School.

Playing six-on-six indoors is a bit different than playing in the sand.

“It makes me scrappier,” she said of beach volleyball. “It’s a lot of fun to dive.”

Jeremy Irey is consoled by opponent Chris Littleman shortly after losing match point.

Photo by ALEX PAJUNAS – The Daily AstorianAfter a successful first day in pool play, the two lost a pair of matches in Saturday’s double elimination bracket.

“If you can find out (the secret to beach volleyball), let us know,” Jagger said.

There were two other local groups who seem to have it figured out.

For the third straight year, longtime partners Nikki Gascoigne and Julie Poyer won their division, this time taking first in the Women’s Masters bracket.

The team formerly known as ‘Booyaka’ won all four pool play matches Friday, then went 3-0 Saturday to nail down the title. Sponsored by Clatsop Distributing, they won $150 each in prize money.

Elsewhere, Seaside couple Eric and Angie Huntsman took first place in the Coed Doubles A division, making this year even more special for Eric Huntsman, who was playing in his 20th Seaside tournament, while Angie Huntsman was celebrating tournament No. 10.

Kaeden Chapman, 22 months, of McMinnville, has a ball trying to return a serve back across the net.

Photo by ALEX PAJUNAS – The Daily AstorianAt the other end of the beach, area high school players were using the tournament as a little tune-up for the upcoming prep season.

Astoria High School had several teams in Friday and Saturday’s two-on-two play, as well as two squads in Sunday’s four-on-four competition.

The foursome of Shelby Coggins, Kayce Lilley, Aliisa Norris and Chelsey Olson competed in the 18-and-under division, while Kat Gauthier, Olivia Israel, Haley Larson and Danielle Moyer took part in the 16-and-under.

“We started off a little slow, but we picked it up in the second game,” said Lilley, who added that there’s a whole new set of strategies in beach volleyball, compared to indoor six-on-six. “Especially when it’s doubles, because you have so much court to cover, and it’s just the two of you.”

Norris added, “it’s harder to run, but it doesn’t hurt as much when you land on it.”

Seaside’s Sophie LaCoste and Riley Tadei also played in the four’s 18-and-under division, while Marxer teamed with Sara Cullen, Jon Diego and Jeramy Poyer in a coed division.

Jordan Poyer – who left for Corvallis Sunday to begin practicing with the Oregon State football team – competed for one last time in Clatsop County, teaming with Jason Lockett in doubles play Friday and Saturday.

Highlights from this year’s Seaside Volleyball Tournament

Interviews with Astoria High School volleyball players

Reflecting on this year’s tournament