ASSN. OF VOLLEYBALL PROFESSIONALS U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS : Final Stop on Tour Is Truly a Showdown on the Sand

If the final installment of the Miller Lite/Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Tour is similar to the previous 23 episodes, expect a climactic showdown at the two-man $750,000 U.S. Championships in Hermosa Beach Friday and Saturday.

It’s not only for king of the beach honors, it is also for king of the bucks.

On one side of the net is 23-year-old Kent Steffes, who will team with Karch Kiraly. Steffes, in his third year on the tour, has won seven titles--five with Kiraly and two with Tim Hovland--and finished in the top three of 17 events this season. He leads the tour in prize money with $174,130 and has also guaranteed himself a $37,000 bonus by finishing third in the $500,000 Miller Lite Grand Prix Bonus Pool, which awards points to players for each finish on the 24-city 13-state tour. Steffes’ total earnings this season are $211,130.

On the other side is the top-seeded team of Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos. They have teamed for 11 titles and 19 top-three finishes this season. Each has earned $169,207, not counting the $140,000 they will split for winning the bonus pool. Added up, each player’s share is $239,207.

The season-ending event is the tour’s richest stop. The winners will earn $100,000 and the second-place squad will earn $24,650.

Therefore, should Steffes and Kiraly, the second-seeded team, win the event, Steffes would become the season money champion--no matter where Smith and Stoklos end up. His $50,000 share would increase his winnings to $261,130, surpassing any total Smith or Stoklos could accumulate.

Should Smith and Stoklos defend their 1990 Championship title, each player’s earnings would increase to $289,207. Last year, each earned $221,437.

All of the financial mathematics are predicated on each squad reaching Saturday’s 2 p.m. nationally televised championship match.

To accommodate NBC, all matches will be played to either an eight-minute time limit--the clock will run only when the ball is in play--or 15 points. The tournament will be double elimination; however the televised final match will be single elimination with a 15-point ceiling.

Smith and Stoklos have defeated a Steffes team in seven of 11 tournament championships where the teams have met.

However, since Steffes teamed with Kiraly, the two-time Olympic gold medalist, in late June, the team has won five tournaments and two of the three finals against Smith and Stoklos. Smith and Stoklos opened the tour by winning seven of 11 events. At the time, Steffes was teamed with Tim Hovland. They won only two tournaments, but finished

second to Smith and Stoklos five times.

All this math-work was made possible by Steffes and Kiraly’s recent tournament run. As of Aug. 12, the only way Steffes could catch Smith and Stoklos, who led the competition, $160,227 to $124,130, would be by winning the $100,000 Santa Cruz Open. Steffes and Kiraly did that to set up the battle for the money title.

The U.S. Championship has been billed as the Super Bowl of the 1991 AVP tour. During the eight-month tour, $2.1 million in prize money has been awarded. The $500,000 bonus pool will be awarded after Saturday’s final. This is the first year of the bonus pool and it will not include this weekend’s results.

Smith and Stoklos tied for the bonus pool title with 133.5 points each and Steffes finished third with 119. Steffes appeared in a limited amount of events in 1988, but earned the AVP’s Up and Coming Player of the Year Award. In 1989, he was voted the tour’s rookie of the year. Last year, he won six tournaments and $116,556 as he climbed to sixth on the AVP’s board. His partner, Kiraly, earned $124,625 in 1990, winning seven tournaments. He ended 1990 ranked third on the tour.

Smith is the all-time tournament leader with 114 wins. Stoklos, his partner for 10 years, is second with 95. The team won 12 tournaments in 1990 and ended the year as the top-ranked team in the world. Smith is first on the all-time career earnings list with $876,554. Stoklos is second with $871,229.