The "Switch for Cincinnati" is on for several teams, as a few players decided that the two-week gap before the AVP Cincinnati Open presented by Liftoff offered the best chance to switch partners before the AVP switches into high gear. With tournaments being held on eight of the next 10 weekends on the AVP Nissan Series, there could be no better chance for changes.

One long-time partnership that is being revived is Carrie Busch and long-time partner Leanne McSorley, who is making her 2005 debut.  Those two are playing together for the 39th time (16th time on the AVP Tour), having played at least one event together each year from 1999 through 2003, with one win and eight third place finishes together. Dianne DeNecochea / Tammy Leibl, who played the first three events of 2004 together (placed seventh, ninth and fifth), are back together again.  Nancy Mason, who has played at least 17 events with Busch, McSorley and DeNecochea, will team up with Jen Meredith for the first time.

John Hyden / Mike Lambert, who played together in Chicago last year and did not lose a match until the finals, will once again be on the same side of the net. The two players also played on the U.S. National Team in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. Playing together for the first time is the tandem of Eric Fonoimoana / Brent Doble. Fonoimoana has had good experiences in his first tournament with new partners, as he has won three events the first time out with a new partner.

For the men’s team that wins in Cincinnati, the feeling of winning is sure to feel like the first win, even if it isn’t.  That’s because just six teams playing here have won before as a team, with two wins the most of the group. Contrast that to the women where just two teams have won before, but Misty May-Treanor / Kerri Walsh have done so 37 times.

If tradition holds, the men’s winner will be Karch Kiraly. In the three previous tournaments held in Cincinnati, Kiraly has been on the winning side each time, twice with twice with Kent Steffes and once with Adam Johnson.  Three times the women have played here as well, but not since 1990, and Marla O’Hara is the only player entered this tournament that also played the last time Cincinnati hosted a women’s

tournament.

The last couple years has shown that tradition generally is discarded though, when dealing with the men’s side.  Instead of dominant teams that win the majority of events, nine winning teams in the last year and a half have been first-time winners. The dominance has belonged to the women instead, as just two different teams have won every team event since 2003.  May-Treanor / Walsh have won 20 times in that  span, while Holly McPeak / Elaine Youngs won five events.

This season no men’s team has been able to build up very much momentum. Jake Gibb / Stein Metzger started out fast, with wins in the first two events, and they have been able to play in all five semifinals so far. But they will have the ”burden” of being the number one seed here. Dax Holdren / Jeff Nygaard are the only other team to advance to the Final Four in all five tournaments, and for that they have earned the second seed.

Momentum is exactly what May-Treanor / Walsh have right now. They have not lost a match (and lost just three games) this season and have won 11 consecutive tournament titles.  Their winning streak on both the AVP and FIVB tours has reached 47 straight matches.  The next three seeds in the tournament have all been to a championship this season, and have the best shot at ending the streak.

Playing night matches under the lights at the Lindner Family Tennis Center could prove to provide some upsets as well, as most players are not used to those conditions. As Cincinnati is one of the two new stops on the AVP Nissan Series, you’ll want to show up, tune in, or log on and watch the drama unfold.