View source for Dax Holdren

{{short description|American beach volleyball player (born 1972)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox volleyball biography
| name             = Dax Holdren
| image            = 
| caption          =
| full_name        = Daxton Holdren
| nickname         = 
| birth_date       = {{birth-date and age|September 4, 1972}}
| birth_place      = [[Santa Barbara, California]], U.S.
| height           = 6'3"
| college          = Santa Barbara City College
| medaltemplates-title = Medal record
| medaltemplates   = 
{{MedalSport | Men's [[beach volleyball]] }}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Swatch FIVB World Championships|World Championships]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[2003 Beach Volleyball World Championships|2003 Rio de Janeiro]] | Beach }}
}}

'''Daxton Holdren''' (born September 4, 1972 in [[Santa Barbara, California]]) is an American former professional [[beach volleyball]] player.<ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |title=Dax Holdren |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ho/dax-holdren-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203081329/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ho/dax-holdren-1.html |archive-date=December 3, 2016}}</ref>  Holdren played on the [[Association of Volleyball Professionals|AVP]] tour with [[Jeff Nygaard]] just before his retirement.

Holdren was a late-comer to the sport of volleyball and did not begin playing until his junior year in high school.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Robinson |first=Jon |date=2003-09-19 |title=Dax Holdren Interview |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2003/09/19/dax-holdren-interview |access-date=2023-11-13 |website=IGN |language=en}}</ref>  He joined the AVP in 1997 and was the tour's Rookie of the Year.<ref name="avp.com">"Dax Holdren." ''AVP.com''. {{cite web|url=http://www.avp.com/players/profile.jsp?id%3D60 |title=Volleyball @ AVP.COM: The Players: AVP.com |accessdate=August 5, 2007 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927182548/http://www.avp.com/players/profile.jsp?id=60 |archivedate=September 27, 2007 }}</ref>  He started his career playing with [[Todd Rogers]], a teammate of his at [[San Marcos High School (Santa Barbara, California)|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.<ref>"Eric Fonoimoana and Dax Holdren Dominate the Beach At Nissan U.S. Championships of Beach Volleyball Presented by Xbox." ''[[Business Wire]]'', August 25, 2002. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_August_25/ai_90722055</ref>  Fonoimoana split with Holdren in 2003.

Holdren represented the United States with partner [[Stein Metzger]] at the [[2004 Summer Olympics]] in [[Athens]], 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]], 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 pairing with Nygaard.<ref>Moore, David Leon. "Partners part ways, produce power pairs." ''[[USA Today]]'', July 20, 2005. https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/summer/2005-07-20-volleyball-teammates_x.htm</ref>  During the 2005 AVP season, Holdren and Nygaard were the second-ranked pair in the league.<ref>Moore, David Leon. "Partners..."</ref>  Holdren himself finished second on the tour in digs with 909.<ref name="avp.com" />  In the 2007 season, Nygaard's treatment for cancer reduced their play time together.  While Nygaard underwent treatment, Holdren partnered with [[Kevin Wong]] in several tournaments.<ref>Scarr, Mike. "Nygaard recovering from cancer." ''AVP.com'', May 25, 2007. {{cite web|url=http://www.avp.com/news/article.jsp?ymd%3D20070525%26contentid%3D27407 |title=Volleyball @ AVP.COM: News: AVP.com |accessdate=August 6, 2007 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927182529/http://www.avp.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070525&contentid=27407 |archivedate=September 27, 2007 }}</ref>

In his career, Holdren had 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 (clothing company)|Nautica]] along with [[Michael Lambert (volleyball)|Mike Lambert]].<ref>"Team Nautica." ''Nautica.com'', {{cite web|url=http://www.nautica.com/team1 |title=Nautica - Team Nautica - AVP |accessdate=August 6, 2007 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928013617/http://www.nautica.com/team1 |archivedate=September 28, 2007 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{FIVB player|name=Daxton "Dax" Holdren}}
* {{Beach Volleyball Database|60}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927182548/http://www.avp.com/players/profile.jsp?id=60 Dax Holdren] at [[Association of Volleyball Professionals|AVP]] (archived)
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{Olympics.com|daxton-holdren|Daxton Holdren}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holdren, Dax}}
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American men's beach volleyball players]]
[[Category:Olympic beach volleyball players for the United States]]
[[Category:Beach volleyball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Santa Barbara, California]]
[[Category:San Marcos High School (Santa Barbara, California) alumni]]
[[Category:21st-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]