Karch Kiraly Shows He Has Not Lost Winning Touch : Volleyball: His game is still sharp despite having to make quick transition from indoor game to beach.

Karch Kiraly relaxed under a large umbrella between matches at the Off Shore Manhattan Beach Open on Saturday. It was more like Camp Kiraly. His wife Janna, 9-month-old son Kristian and his parents were among family members present.

The family cheered fiercely as Kiraly and partner Kent Steffes cruised into the final of the winners’ bracket, where they will play eighth-seeded Scott Ayakatubby and Steve Timmons today at 11 a.m.

Kiraly and Steffes, seeded third, overwhelmed their first two opponents on Saturday. They started the day by routing Owen McKibbin and Brian Lewis, 15-1, and later defeated Rudy Dvorak and Craig Moothart by the same score. Kiraly and Steffes then beat Roger Clark and Eric Wurts, 15-9, in the semifinals.

After his disappointing match, McKibbin turned to a friend and said: “Do you have any ketchup for this fry?”

Kiraly, who may be the world’s best volleyball player, recently returned from Italy where he spent eight months competing in an indoor pro league. He has had no trouble making a transition from the hard surface of a gym floor to the soft sand of the beaches.

“I guess the hardest thing is timing because you start moving a lot earlier to accomplish the same thing,” Kiraly said. “It’s even more drastic than going from the grass of Wimbledon to the clay of the French Open.”

Kiraly says it is great to play on the beach again, surrounded by his family. He says the indoor game requires a lot more work and playing on the beach is a lot more fun.

“It’s definitely good to be home,” said Kiraly, who lives in San Clemente. “It was tough being away from home that long, no matter how handsomely they compensate us and how great the quality of life is.”

He looked up at his infant son, being held by Janna, and smiled.

“Like Dorothy says, there’s no place like home!”

Kiraly was a four-time All-American at UCLA, a member of three NCAA championship teams and a two-time gold medalist on the U.S. Olympic team. But he grew up playing on the beach and says he will do that exclusively after one more indoor season in Italy.

Kiraly has been a dominate figure in the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Tour. He is a three-time beach world champion (in 1979 and 1981 with Sinjin Smith and in 1988 with Pat Powers) and teamed with Brent Frohoff to win last year’s Manhattan Beach Open.

“Karch is one of the better players in the world,” Frohoff said. “That’s why everyone wants to play with him.”

Kiraly teamed with Steffes three weeks ago and they have been impressive, placing fifth in their first tournament (Cape Cod, Mass.) and winning their second last week at Belmar Beach, N.J. Kiraly, 30, is a consistent all-around player and Steffes is a powerful hitter and blocker with solid defensive skills.

“Karch is just so good, he’s a phenomenal volleyball player,” said AVP President Jon Stevenson, who also competes on the tour. “He can do lots of different things. He can go from the net to the back line faster than anyone I’ve seen. He also has great mental toughness.”

Stevenson believes Kiraly and Steffes, 23, make a great team.

“Kent is the most physically gifted young player on the tour,” Stevenson said. “He won his first tournament with me in 1989 and I could tell right there he would be great.”

Steffes won two of his six tournaments last year with Kiraly. He won one event with Dan Vrebalovich and three with Tim Hovland. This year he won two tournaments with Hovland and reached the final of six others. He says the best is yet to come from Kiraly.

“He’s playing well now, but he can play a lot better,” Steffes said. “He just got back. His ball control is still unmatched on the tour.”