Dax Holdren (born September 4, 1972 in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

) is an American professional male beach volleyball player. Holdren is currently on the AVP tour playing with

Jeff Nygaard Jeff Wayne Nygaard (born August 3, 1972, in Madison, Wisconsin) is an American volleyball and beach volleyball player who participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics with partner Dain Blanton in Athens, Greece. In 1996 and 2000 he was a member of th ...

. Holdren was a late-comer to the sport of volleyball and did not begin playing until his junior year in high school. He joined the AVP in 1997 and was the tour's rookie of the year."Dax Holdren." ''AVP.com''. He started his career playing with

Todd Rogers Todd Jonathan Rogers (born September 30, 1973) is an American professional beach volleyball player who is an Olympic and FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship gold medalist. He and his former partner, Phil Dalhausser, were the 2007, 2008, 200 ...

, a teammate of his at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara. The duo had eight wins together, including a World Tour victory in 2000 that was reached through qualification. Following his partnership with Rogers, Holdren partnered with Eric Fonoimoana for two AVP seasons. In 2002, they were considered the dominant partnership on tour. Fonoimoana split with Holdren in 2003. Holdren represented the United States with partner

Stein Metzger Stein Metzger (born November 17, 1972, in Honolulu, Hawaii) is a male beach volleyball player from the United States. He played college men's indoor volleyball at UCLA where he won 3 NCAA National championships under legendary coach Al Scates. ...

at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece, where they finished fifth. The duo were not expected to win medals despite their unexpected win of the silver medal at the 2003 Beach Volleyball World Championships in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

, Brazil. Holdren and Metzger split as partners following their finish out of the medals in Athens; both Holdren and Metzger are smallish players for beach volleyball and had no plans to continue as partners, leading to Holdren's current pairing with Nygaard. During the 2005 AVP season, Holdren and Nygaard were the second-ranked pair in the league. Holdren himself finished second on the tour in digs with 909. Holdren and Nygaard are still primary partners, but in the 2007 season, Nygaard's treatment for cancer has reduced their play time together. While Nygaard underwent treatment, Holdren partnered with Kevin Wong in several tournaments. In his career, Holdren has 14 total wins on the AVP tour (eight with Rogers, five with Fonoimoana, one with Nygaard), most recently coming in 2005. He has had several sponsors, notably being sponsored by

Nautica Nautica is an American apparel brand of Authentic Brands Group featuring primarily men's, women's, children's apparel and accessories, as well as home, watches, and fragrance. Nautica was founded in 1983 by clothing designer David Chu and a par ...

along with Mike Lambert."Team Nautica." ''Nautica.com'',

References

External links

AVP Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holdren, Dax 1972 births Living people American men's beach volleyball players Beach volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic beach volleyball players of the United States Sportspeople from Santa Barbara, California