SAN DIEGO, Calif. (December 11, 2000) --- Beach Volleyball America (BVA), the premier professional beach volleyball organization in the United States, announced today the addition of Laura Echolds of Yorba Linda, Calif. as its Athlete Services Director. Echolds will be primarily responsible for managing all areas of administration of BVA athletes including tour administration, promotions, and event marketing for the BVA Tour.

"The BVA Tour will benefit immediately from Laura's professionalism, experience, and creativity," said Lori Okimura, Chief Operating Officer of the BVA. "She will work closely with the BVA athletes and individual sponsors to strengthen our growing network of tour supporters, and will restructure our Athlete Services department to enhance our efficiency."

Echolds comes to the BVA with an extensive volleyball background, as well as event management experience. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing from Santa Clara University. While at Santa Clara, she was a four-year letter winner in the middle blocker position for the nationally-ranked Santa Clara women's volleyball team. She earned honors on the All-District team, received first team All-West Coast Conference honors and received the Santa Clara University Academic Achievement award for three consecutive years. She also competed on the women's water polo team at Santa Clara.

Prior to joining the BVA, Echolds gained early experience in public relations and event management in the Sports Marketing Department of MIKASA SPORTS. While at MIKASA SPORTS, Echolds was responsible for marketing and sales in conjunction with The Volleyball Festival, the largest amateur girls' sporting event in the U.S. Most recently she was an Account Executive for Allegiance Telecom, Inc. in Irvine, California.

"My goal is to develop strong professional relationships with the BVA athletes, as well as with our individual sponsors to enhance their experience and involvement in the tour," said Echolds. "I'm looking forward to the growth of the BVA Tour and the success of the 2001 season."

The BVA Tour stages pro beach volleyball events throughout the US, including the BVA US Open of Beach Volleyball in Manhattan Beach, California and the BVA Tour Championship in Honolulu, Hawaii. The BVA Tour is sponsored by SPEEDO, MIKASA, General Motors, Jamba Juice, Allsport Photography, Outpost.com, and Volleyhut.com among other regional tour sponsors. The BVA Tour is televised nationally and fans can follow the action online at www.VolleyCentral.com.

For further information on the BVA Tour, please contact Mike Kantor at (858) 486-8659, ext. 350, or via email at [email protected]. Detailed information on the BVA Tour is also available online at bvatour.com or www.volleycentral.com.