VOLLEYBALL : Smith-Stoklos Reign on Beach

Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos have picked a good time to dominate their sport.

Smith-Stoklos is the premier team on the beach volleyball circuit. They have swept through the first four months of the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour and head into the opener of the sport’s richest event, the Cuervo Gold Crown, as hot as the sand beneath their lunging bodies.

In fact, Smith and Stoklos have a chance to get their 100th AVP career victory this weekend at the Miller Lite Open at Santa Barbara, the sixth stop on the 24-city tour. The tour, with $2.6 million in prize money, ends with the $750,000 Miller Lite U.S. Championships at Hermosa Beach, Calif., Aug. 24-25.

The all-time leading money-winner in beach volleyball with nearly $800,000, Smith credits the influx of sponsors and cable television coverage for bringing recognition to the two-man game. But he claims the dollar signs are not what entices the players most.

“Money has not changed the sport as far as the competition itself,” says Smith, 33. “There was virtually none in the game when I started in 1977, but the competition was still the same, still just as intense. We were really going at it then and we still do.

“The money at stake now doesn’t necessarily improve the competition, but brings more people into the game. We play all over the country now because sponsors have made the sport attractive and popular nationwide. People are playing volleyball in the interior states as well as on the coast line, in places you would never imagine playing.”

Indeed, the three-stop Gold Crown begins next weekend in Clearwater, Fla., and ends in August in Santa Cruz, Calif. That takes care of the coasts. In between is the June 7-8 stop at that oceanside retreat, Boulder, Colo.

“Boulder has been a great stop on the tour for some years,” says Smith. “We can get 20,000 at each of the Cuervo tournaments and we always get a big, enthusiastic crowd in Boulder. They play volleyball there as much as they can--as long as there’s no snow on the ground.”

Smith and Stoklos, 30, won 12 tournaments last year and seem determined to win everything in 1991. They approach the Clearwater event on the hottest streak in volleyball history and are defending champions in all three Cuervo tournaments.

They are the only players to sweep the invitational Gold Crown, which features a round-robin format involving the top eight teams in the sport. It’s worth $450,000 in total prize money, including a $100,000 winning prize for the California stop, the first six-figure booty on the beach.

“Obviously, Cuervo wanted a different format to create a different type event from the tour stops, which are double elimination,” Smith said. “Plus there is the added incentive of all that money.

“They emphasize money for media attention. This is a great sport but we are educating the media and the public on it and and they love to hear about dollars and cents.

“But come out and see us and you will realize it’s not a game of dollars and cents.”

As in any other game, experience, intimidation and health are key facets in a team’s success. All three have worked in Smith-Stoklos’ favor.

“The key is we’ve been together 10 years and know each other very well on the court,” Smith said. “Plus, we’ve both been healthy -- he hardly ever seems to have a physical problem. Not much really holds Randy back. I’ve had shoulder and elbow problems for years, but now I feel better than I have in eight years and I think it shows.”

What also shows on the sand is confidence. They know they are the best and so do their opponents.

“I’m sure that because we are the No. 1 seed and have beaten every team out there, it does have an effect on other teams,” Smith said. “But we know when we step on the court, we can lose to any of them at any time. To think we have an edge just by stepping on court is the wrong attitude.

“It happens quite often that we step on the court not totally confident we can win a match. Anyone is capable of beating us, and when a team puts together a great match, it can beat us, no doubt about it.”

It just hasn’t happened much recently.