Smith, Stoklos Gain Semifinals at Seal Beach After 16-14 Scare

Shortly before his quarterfinal match at the $100,000 Seal Beach Open pro beach volleyball tournament, Sinjin Smith was describing the pressures of being top-seeded with partner Randy Stoklos.

“The guys we play, it always seems like they put together their best games against us,” said Smith, of Pacific Palisades. “If they played that well the rest of the way, they would win the tournament.”

Smith and Stoklos then survived a scare from ninth-seeded Eric Wurts of Huntington Beach and Roger Clark of Pacific Palisades in the quarterfinals, rallying from a 12-5 deficit for a 16-14 victory at the Seal Beach Pier.

Smith and Stoklos advanced to today’s winners’ bracket semifinals against fifth-seeded Brent Frohoff and Scott Ayakatubby, both of Hermosa Beach, in the second day of the double-elimination tournament. The other semifinal will match second-seeded Kent Steffes of Pacific Palisades and Karch Kiraly of San Clemente against 11th-seeded Owen McKibbin of Santa Monica and Tim Walmer of Manhattan Beach.