LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Each week as he packs his bags for the next AVP Tour stop, Matt Olson receives some silent treatment and big sad eyes from one of the members of his family.

"We have a little dog Playa, a female German Sheppard and Labrador mix, who will see me start seeing me packing each week and goes and lays down with her ball and gives me the look," said Olson, who finished in fifth place in Long Beach this weekend.

Olson and his wife Lindsey have only had Playa for a few months, but it has been Olson's commitment to the AVP since the 2000 season that has helped him get other kinds of looks from his fellow players.

"He is a young guy who works hard and has really good skills," said partner Kevin Wong. "I was talking to Matt Gage about some players and he told me that Matt was one of those guys who makes his partners play better."

Part of what has helped Olson stay with the sport is the support he receives off the sand.

"It's wearing, but it's something I grew up doing since my family that really embraced volleyball," said Olson. "Honestly this is like living the dream with having a wife who is extremely supportive and so is my family. They are at most of the events. If I were to quit or stop, it would be awkward at family events to say the least and I thoroughly enjoy it."

Emotional support is one aspect off his off-sand support, but it is the sponsorship dollars that helps ease the financial pain of not consistently being in a final match.

"My current sponsors are Oakley's (eyewear, board shorts and apparel), Fairfield & Nichols Properties, Hawkins Aviation (a charter airline service out of Palomar Airport), said Olson, whose long-time sponsor of his parents restaurant OlyO's Pizza in Encinitas sadly closed two years ago. "Most of my sponsors are family connections."

Complimenting the off-sand support is his discipline that has given him options on the sand.

"The last two seasons I've done better with having a nutritionist (Jackson Health & Performance) and a lot of it for me as been being on a veggies, protein and some cheese diet," said Olson. "Soda and Gatorade are out and he wants be on a traditional flourless diet where I can't eat any bread or chips (which I cheat on a little bit). I do pretty good on it. Also, my drinking is pretty light. It feels like it is paying off."

Like so many other players on the AVP Tour who fans know very little about, big things seem to be on the horizon for Olson.

"You've got to look at him like a stock, he's got a rising trajectory year after year," said Wong. "He is getting beach each year and his ranking gets better each year. I think last year when he got into a couple of finals last year and taking some thirds was a really big step for him."

This trajectory for Olson helped him enjoy a new experience earlier this season at the Belmar Open where with Wong he enjoyed being on top of the world.

"We found out on Tuesday morning we the No. 1 seed team in the tournament with the other teams gone t that weekend, so the owner of Hawkins Aviation, Mrs. Scripps, decided to fly out everyone a plane could hold of our friends and family to the tournament," said Olson, who won his first AVP title at the Belmar Open this year. "That weekend was and still is awesome. It was a great experience and to do it with Kevin was awesome and phenomenal. We had been put in a lot of hard work at that point so it was nice to get some payback. It was also good to have friends and family there to share it with them instead of getting a cell phone call afterwards."

More high finishes in tournaments are likely, but with a crazy AVP Tour schedule it is the other future plans that help keep Olson balanced that include starting a family with his wife and coming home to a predictable greeting from the one family member who can get away with giving him sad puppy eyes each week.

"She will have a tennis ball in her mouth, tail wagging and go in circles until my wife or I throw the ball for her," said Olson.