No. 2 Hopes to Catch No. 1 in Beach Volleyball

It’s a deceiving game of tag. In pursuit is most of women’s pro beach volleyball. Being pursued is the top-ranked and seemingly unstoppable team of Brazil’s Jackie Silva and San Juan Capistrano’s Janice Opalinski.

But one pair is drawing closer than the rest.

In the first two stops of the Flamingo Hilton Women’s Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, Silva and Opalinski went undefeated in the double-elimination format for back-to-back championships. Losing twice in each stop--all four times to Silva and Opalinski--were second-ranked Patty Dodd of Colombia and Karolyn Kirby of San Diego, who have finished second each time.

The hunt continues today at the San Diego Open, the third stop on the tour. After Saturday’s opening rounds at Pacific Beach, only four teams remain in the championship bracket. Dodd-Kirby and Silva-Opalinski are among them.

Beginning with the semifinals at 9:30 a.m., Dodd and Kirby will attempt to break what has become routine: make it to the final of the winner’s bracket, lose to Silva-Opalinski, win the consolation final and lose to Silva-Opalinski again in the championship final. Last week in Santa Barbara, Silva-Opalinski won, 15-13. It was the most points anyone has scored against them.

“Patty and I have the ability to beat them,” said Kirby, 28, one of the newest and most successful members of the beach tour. “In time, we can be the best team on the beach.”

How much time is anyone’s guess. Kathy Gregory, a tour veteran and ESPN commentator, said they have all the physical talent--it’s the mental preparation they need to improve.

“They have all the tools,” Gregory said, “but it’s hard to go against Jackie and Janice. Their mental game is so much better than anyone else. You have to be hungry, and I don’t know if they’re as hungry as Janice and Jackie are.”

Said Kirby: “A lot of what we’ve done is on athletic ability only. The mental game is such a big part of it. Jackie and Janice go out to win. A lot of teams go out trying not to lose. They are so intense. We’re trying to get to that point.”

It is the first season together for both Silva-Opalinski and Dodd-Kirby, but after Silva’s total dominance of the tour last year--she won 11 of 14 stops with two different partners--and with Kirby still learning the finer points of the beach game, Dodd and Kirby have more catching up to do.

“I think Karolyn’s a great athlete,” said Dodd, a five-year veteran. “She’s complete in all her skills, but she’s not at the peak of her game.”

Before Dodd-Kirby get another shot at Silva-Opalinski, they must first get past a pair of former Olympians, the No. 6 team of Linda Carrillo (Van Nuys) and Angela Rock (San Diego). They sent the only all-San Diego team, third-ranked Lori Kotas and Gail Castro, to the loser’s bracket with a 15-5 victory.