Updated 4/24/03
East End Volleyball History
East
End Volleyball Classic Match: The Corona Light 4-player Championships were held at Jones Beach in July,
1989 featuring 4-player teams 
comprised of National Team members and top
California players such as Doug Partie, Steve Salmons, Dusty Dvorak, and Gene
LeDuff. To attract local interest a NY Metropolitan local team was allowed to
participate. Organizers felt that they might be competitive and would be out of
the tournament early leaving only their fans who would stay for the playoffs and
help fill bleacher seats for the TV cameras.
What the organizers did not count on was the experience and heart of the local players. Captain Eric Pavels from Long Island (college ball at University of California - Santa Barbara and the US National team) contacted NJ star Doug Emich, and NYC resident's Phil Melese and Steve Zelko to form a very solid 4-player team.
Emich had also played with the National team, Zelko had played 4 years at
USC-Santa Barbara, and Melese was rated triple A in California during his
college years. ("You should have seen Phil play when he was young"
said former AVP star Pat Powers.)
With Pavels setting, Emich blocking, Zelko
playing back row defense, and Melese firing away from the strong side, the
local team breezed through pool play and ended up in the finals against captain
Doug Partie's 4-man squad. The first two games of the 3 game finals were very
close with the locals winning the first 15-12 and Partie's team wining the
second 15-10.
The third game was close up to the half-way point with Partie ahead by an
8-6 score when Phil Melese went down with cramps. He tried to play on but
without his great jumping ability the locals finally succumbed 15-9 in one of
the best matches ever on Long Island. While not an EEVB promoted event, all of
the locals have played in EEVB tournaments since the mid eighties.