VCO 2019 – Family Day

The first day of qualifying at the Volvo Car Open (www.volvocaropen.com) was absolutely EPIC!!! Between Family Day, VIP clinics, all the special player autograph sessions, and the Draw Party, there was so much to see and photograph. It kept me hopping while I hustled to cover everything…including even a little bit of tennis action!  🙂

Colorado

The Pomona-Pitzer Women’s Water Polo team has its sights set on a three-peat for the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship in 2019.

The Sagehens are coming off of a historic season in which they repeated as SCIAC Champions and went a perfect 14-0 in conference play. The Sagehens went 22-11 overall and had impressive regular season wins over the Chinese national team and Brown before falling in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to UC Irvine.

Many of the experienced players from The Sagehens return from seasons past with a total of eight seniors to lead the team, including star goalie Morgan Stockham. This season, Morgan appeared in 29 games with an 18-8 record and 125 saves.

I had the distinct honor of photographing Morgan at the team’s training center in Claremont, CA. Many thanks to her amazing mother, Sarah, for inviting me on this shoot, and capturing the behind-the-scenes shots as I worked!

Volvo Car Open – Day 7

Well, it was an eventful week! After eight 12-hour days in a row, of constant hustling, shooting, editing, and transmitting images for the tournament, we finally have a NEW Volvo Car Open Champion!!!

Congratulations to the French duo of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic for taking home the doubles trophy.

And congratulations to American Sloan Stephens for weathering several years of early-round losses before finally going the distance and taking home the 2016 crown…AND a brand new limited-edition Volvo Car!!! 🙂

Family Circle Cup is now Volvo Car Open

The Family Circle Cup has a new title sponsor and is now the Volvo Car Open!

Don’t worry, the longest running and largest women’s professional tennis tournament is still the same amazing event it always has been…just with a new name. 🙂

Here are some images from the days before the official start of the tournament. My coverage began with the annual Iconic Photo Shoot, featuring the two previous champions, Angie Kerber and Andrea Petkovic. It continued with all kinds of player appearances and activities during the Family Day at qualifying rounds. And it culminated in the always amazing Player Party, which officially welcomes all the players to town and kicks of the tournament with a bang!

Stay tuned…seven more days of awesome tennis to come!!!