Beach City Invitational set to invade La Jolla

Dave Jones isn’t big into car washes or candy-bar sales as means of raising funds for the girls’ volleyball program at La Jolla High School.

The Vikings coach would rather bring in money for the team by doing something that directly involves volleyball, and so for the last nine years has been running the Beach City Invitational tournament.

The tournament, which this year features a 48-team field, will be held Sept. 25-26 at La Jolla High, The Bishop’s School, Point Loma High, Westview High, San Marcos High, Granite Hills High and the Coast Volleyball Club in Sorrento Valley.

“This is our biggest fund-raiser, and it’s the biggest and strongest field we’ve ever had,” Jones said. “There will be some great players there.”

Jones started running the tournament when he was a coach at Point Loma High, and brought it with him when he moved over to La Jolla eight years ago. It is the largest girls’ volleyball tournament in San Diego County, he said, and attracts a strong field every year.

This year’s tournament features teams from throughout San Diego County, as well as teams from the Southern Section, Los Angeles section, Arizona, Alaska and Washington.

Bishop’s was awarded the top seed, defending champion Orange Lutheran is second, and La Jolla High is third. La Jolla Country Day, which has opened its season with an 11-0 record, will not play because the school is closed this week for experiential education and college visits, but the success of La Jolla’s three teams has Jones excited.

“La Jolla volleyball is up, and San Diego volleyball in general is up,” he said.

The final of the Beach City Invitational will be held Saturday at La Jolla High, at approximately 5:30 p.m.

“This tournament brings a lot of great competition from all over into our gyms,” Jones said.

Gregory Ball covers sports for the La Jolla Light. He can be reached at ballgregory@yahoo.

com.