Despite Changing Partners, Silva Keeps Hitting Winners

Jackie Silva may have finally found some roots in Redondo Beach, her adopted hometown.

But Silva, the top player on the women’s pro beach volleyball tour, is finding it a lot harder to settle on a partner to stand next to her in the sand for more than a few months--or weeks--at a time.

Silva, a mercurial Brazilian, has dominated the women’s tour for the last few years.

But she has bounced from partner to partner--ending a successful pairing with fellow South American Patty Dodd late last year, then finishing the season with Rita Crockett-Royster.

Silva started this season with Orange County schoolteacher Janice Opalinski and won the first five tournaments of the year before she and Opalinski were stopped in Huntington Beach in mid-June.

Silva will be back in the South Bay this weekend for the 25th annual John Shaw Manhattan Beach Open--one of the most prestigious stops on the 16-city women’s tour.

But this time, she’ll be paired with Karolyn Kirby, a 6-footer from San Diego who played most of the season with Dodd.

It seems to make little difference with whom the top-ranked Silva plays. She has won 17 of the last 21 pro tournaments despite having four different partners.

Silva and Kirby have already won at Laguna Beach and Honolulu and are aiming for a major win in one of the world’s fastest-growing sports.

Dodd will be standing in her way at Manhattan Beach, teamed with beach rookie Jeanne Reeves. Other top pairings are veterans Elaine Roque and Nina Matthies, Linda Carrillo and Linda Hanley, Opalinski and Lisa Strand, and Lori Kotas and Gail Castro.

“It’s the oldest tournament around, so it’s definitely a tournament you want to win because of all the prestige,” said Dodd, who lives in Manhattan Beach with her husband, beach volleyball star Mike Dodd.

The silver anniversary edition of the ladies’ John Shaw Open gets under way Saturday at 8:30 a.m. just south of Manhattan Pier. Double-elimination action continues throughout the weekend, with the finals set for 3 p.m. Sunday.

The John Shaw Open will be taped by ESPN for airing Aug. 6. Prize money, boosted by television contracts, has tripled in the past three years. The purse at Manhattan Beach is $25,000, with the winners splitting $6,000.

Admission to the event is free, and promoters expect a crowd of up to 25,000.

Other weekend activities include an exhibition by a sky-diving team that will land on center court to drop off the game ball for Sunday’s final. There will also be a ceremony honoring the event’s past champions, a hairstyle competition, and serving and spiking contests.