Beach volleyball: Utah native Jake Gibb excited for a chance to shine in his home state

Bountiful native and former Olympian Jake Gibb practices for the upcoming AVP pro beach volleyball tournament at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013. Professional beach volleyball is coming to Salt Lake City for the first time August 16 - 18.

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY — You might think that because the AVP Beach Volleyball tour is coming to town this weekend — to Liberty Park, to be specific — that beach volleyball star Jake Gibb had something to do with it. After all, the Utah native has been one of the top AVP players for the past decade.

But Gibb was just as surprised — happily surprised — as anyone when Salt Lake City was chosen as the first stop on the AVP Beach Volleyball tour, a seven-tournament circuit that runs until October.

"I'm stoked. I didn't really believe they would have it here," Gibb said Wednesday afternoon as he prepared to practice on one of the new sand courts on the east side of Liberty Park. "I've played professionally for 14 years and when they dropped Salt Lake City on me, I about lost it. I'm excited — really excited."

Gibb, a native of Bountiful, has been one of the top beach volleyball players, not only in the United States, but the world for several years. The 37-year-old has played in two Olympics and is coming off his best season when he and his partner were ranked No. 1 in the world. He and new partner Casey Patterson will be one of the favored men's teams this weekend.

So what happened to his old partner, Sean Rosenthal?

"For lack of a better word, he dumped me," Gibb said. "I got dumped after a No. 1 year. He partnered with Phil Dalhausser, (who is) the same age as him, so they could have seven great years together."

Gibb understands the reason for the breakup since he is four years older, but he would love nothing more than to beat Rosenthal and Dalhausser this week and anytime they play. (So far he is 1-2 against them.)

The Rosenthal-Dalhausser team enters as the No. 1 seed in this week's event, while Gibb-Patterson is No. 2.

"We are friends, but it makes an interesting dynamic when we get on the court. We want to beat each other so badly, it's almost palpable," he said. "It's a friendly, really strong rivalry, but once we step inside the blue lines, it's on."

Gibb is thrilled with his new partner, Patterson, a former BYU volleyball player from Southern California.

"It's been fun," Gibb said. "He's young and full of energy. He's never taken even a top 10 in the world until this year, and now we have a gold in Shanghai and two silvers. We've done well. He was a kid who just needed an opportunity, and I took a little risk on him and it's paying off."

Patterson, who didn't start playing serious beach volleyball until after college, is grateful for the opportunity to play with one of the best.

"I had the opportunity to watch him a lot when I was in college and growing up playing the game, so it's fun to get a chance to play with him," Patterson said.

Gibb is a late bloomer himself in volleyball. He played golf and basketball in high school and didn't play sports at the University of Utah, where he earned a business degree.

"I started in the backyard playing on the grass with my friends," he said. "We'd grab a garden hose and make a line and had a real droopy net and we played."

When he found he had a talent for beach volleyball in his 20s, Gibb moved to Southern California and turned pro in 2000. His career took off and, by 2005, he was the MVP of the AVP. He's been one of the top players on the circuit ever since, topped off by his 2012 season.

"It takes a long time to get the full skill set for beach volleyball," he said. "In indoor you can specialize, but in outdoor there's only two men and you have to have every skill."

Gibb acknowledges that most beach volleyball players hit their peak between the ages of 30 and 35. But then he adds, "I have a good strength coach, so I happened to peak at 36."

Utah State football: First-team offense shines during Aggies' second scrimmage of fall camp

Defensive back Devonta Glover-Wright defends Travis Van Leeuwen during Utah State Aggies football practice Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Logan

, Tom Smart, Deseret News

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LOGAN — Utah State head coach Matt Wells inherited a stout defense at USU, but the former offensive coordinator’s high-powered offense was the talk of the team after the Aggies’ second scrimmage of fall camp Wednesday evening.

Quarterback Chuckie Keeton was in midseason form, surgically picking apart the defense during his reps. The junior threw for 172 yards on 12 of 20 attempts and tossed three touchdowns.

“Explosive plays by the offense,” Wells said when asked about the highlights of the scrimmage. “That is what we are used to around here. That’s the standard and that will be the expectation every Saturday.”

Big plays included a 25-yard touchdown strike to Travis Reynolds, a 42-yard toss to Hayden Weichers, and several nice plays by Bruce Natson, including a touchdown catch of his own.

Keeton also finished as the third-leading rusher for the Aggies with 13 yards on five carries. He would have had many more had it not been for quick whistles from officials looking to protect the quarterback from onrushing defenders.

Although the first-team offense supplied many of the fireworks, USU had plenty to be happy about from the defensive side as well.

“I thought both defenses at the end of the two-minute drill ... studded it up against the offense,” Wells said. “The (first-team) defense absolutely shut down the (second-team) offense in their side of the two-minute drill.”

The strength of USU's defense lies in a talented linebacker corps that goes six or seven deep, according to defensive coordinator Todd Orlando. Kyler Fackrell did most of the damage, finishing with three sacks, while Tavaris McMillian and Nick Vigil each added one of their own.

McMillian, in particular, showed the strength and versatility of the linebacker unit. The junior from Miami can play all four linebacker positions, but has been spending a lot of time opposite of Fackrell in the Aggies' base defense during camp.

“Depth is valuable, especially against pace teams where guys can rotate in and out,” McMillian said. “It plays into our hands.”

At cornerback, the Aggies have been trying several players opposite Nevin Lawson. Rashard Stewart, along with his teammates Tay Glover-Wright and Quinton Byrd, have all been seeing first-team snaps.

“Me and Tay (Glover-Wright) are like brothers,” Stewart said. “We learn from each other. The main thing I like is the DB group is all in competition. All these guys make me try and play harder.”

Stewart has worked hard to improve his consistency over the summer, going as far as to cut out his offseason rapping hobby to focus more on football. The effort has paid off, as Stewart has been one of the standouts of camp so far. The junior corner even registered a sack on Keeton coming off a corner blitz during the scrimmage.

“Chasing him is like chasing a rabbit,” Stewart joked. “I just like to watch a lot of D-linemen during their one-on-ones so when it’s time for me to rush I can steal their technique.”

Trot Topics: Welch has lofty goals at State Fair

Harness racing got underway at the Springfield State Fair on Friday afternoon, and local trainer Roger Welch was delighted he made the decision to ship his two young trotters to the state capital fairgrounds.

The Beecher conditioner will have the betting favorites in both of Thursday's $45,000 Illinois Stake Fair Championships for 2-year-old colts and fillies after the barn's Bobby B Breeze and S V Spirit won their eliminations in very easy fashion.

While only a fifth-place finish was needed to advance Welch's two freshmen to their respective championships, Welch had his sights set much higher.

"I didn't ship either trotter for a three-hour drive and go for $8,000 purses just to tighten them up and make the finals. I came here with them to win their eliminations," Welch said.

Both 2-year-olds looked very good in doing so with driver Todd Warren, also of Beecher.

First, Bobby B Breeze drew off to a two-length victory in 1 minute, 59 4/5 seconds and is now 2 for 2 for his quartet of owners, Chicagoan Rocky Ruffalo; Pat De Long, of Channahon; Bill De Long, of Wisconsin; and Gordon Wright, of Michigan.