Hovland and Dodd Will Attempt to Rekindle That Old Beach Magic : Volleyball: Players decide to reunite after splitting up a year ago. Together, they have won 55 pro tournaments.

It appeared as if someone turned back time this week at Marine Avenue in Manhattan Beach. For only the second time in more than a year, Mike Dodd and Tim Hovland played volleyball on the same side of a sand court.

Dodd of El Segundo and Hovland of Playa del Rey will team up for this weekend’s pro beach tournament in Cleveland. They will attempt to relive the old days when they were successful together and known as the “Big Game Hunters.”

“We’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks,” Hovland said. “We thought about it at the Manhattan Beach Open. I think we should have been together a few weeks ago.”

Since breaking up in July of 1990, Hovland and Dodd have played together in only one event, a May exhibition tournament in Japan. Both athletes claim it was nostalgic.

“When we were in Japan I said, ‘Hey I’m playing better now. We should play again,’ ” Dodd said. “I’m surprised we didn’t get together sooner. We had good fun in Japan. We really had a great time.”

Said Hovland: “It felt like old times.”

In nine years together, Dodd and Hovland won 55 tournaments and more than $1 million on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour, including five Manhattan Beach Open titles. Mike O’Hara and Mike Bright are the only other team to win that many Manhattan Beach Opens, accomplishing the feat in the early 1960s.

For many seasons, Dodd-Hovland was the only team to consistently challenge top-ranked Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos. They won three World Championships together, but last year the “Big Game Hunters” fell into a slump. They won only two of the season’s first 20 AVP events and on July 16 split up.

Hovland, 32, called it “the ultimate breakup.” Shortly after it occurred, the former USC All-American said: “It was getting stale where we were at. It was like we were dancing with the same person for too long. If the winning fire isn’t there anymore and frustration sets in, then it’s time to look for something else. We weren’t producing. We weren’t dancing as hard as we used to.”

AVP President Jon Stevenson, also a successful beach player, says it was a difficult decision for both men.

“Those guys were very frustrated last year,” Stevenson said. “When they split up it hurt Mike. I don’t think he wanted to do it and I don’t think Hovland wanted to do it either, but he knew it was best.”

Hovland has been more successful than Dodd since the breakup, probably because Dodd has been hampered by injuries. Besides a chronic bad back, he played with a bad right knee last season. In October, Dodd had arthroscopic surgery on the knee to correct the problem.

“It slowed me down on defense, I wasn’t jumping well and my range of motion was not as good,” said Dodd, 33. “It was a tough year for me.”

Dodd failed to win another tournament in 1990, but Hovland won three with Kent Steffes. Hovland and Steffes won two tournaments this year and lost to Smith and Stoklos in the final of six others before splitting up in mid-June.

Steffes, 23, left Hovland after the Philadelphia Open to play with Olympic gold medalist Karch Kiraly. Since then Hovland has played with Brent Frohoff of Hermosa Beach and Pat Powers. He had two third-place finishes with Frohoff and one with Powers, an All-American from USC.

Dodd completed the 1990 season with an array of partners, including Dan Vrebalovich, Scott Ayakatubby and Frohoff. He’s been relatively successful this year with four different partners. He won the San Antonio Open with Ricci Luyties on June 1-2 and he placed in the top four in four other events with Stevenson, Frohoff and John Hanley.

“He had health problems last year, but lately he’s been healthier than he was,” Hovland said. “He’s playing well.”

Hovland and Dodd, both former U.S. National team members, are looking forward to possibly regaining their old form. Hovland, a high-strung and intense player, did most of the blocking. Dodd, a calm and quiet player, did most of the digging. They were perhaps the steadiest team in pro beach volleyball.

“I was the fired-up guy and he was the cool character,” Hovland said. “It was a good medium. I’m excited about this. It’s tough to say how well we’ll play. We don’t want to go into it expecting too much, but we also know what we can do. We’ve won 55 together so we’ve done it before and we can do it again.”

Dodd is anxious to play with Hovland and believes they can be a force again in the AVP.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “I think we’re going to do real well because we’re fired up. I think we can play volleyball like we used to play it. We got along very well for almost 10 years and it’s going to be good to be back on the road with him.”

Stevenson says he’s eager to see Hovland-Dodd compete again and believes it will be good for the sport.

“Mike and Tim and John Hanley and I were the two original teams that toured,” Stevenson said. “It’s good to see that team come back together. They have always been and always will be two great volleyball players and that will always make a good team.”

Judging from their first practice match on Tuesday at Marine Avenue, it appears the “Big Game Hunters” are back.