VOLLEYBALL / AT HERMOSA BEACH : Smith-Stoklos Advance; Kiraly-Steffes Are Upset

Top-seeded Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos avoided being upset on the first day of the $750,000 Miller Lite U.S. Pro Beach Volleyball Championships Friday, but second-seeded Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes weren’t as fortunate.

Smith and Stoklos, the defending champions, defeated Bruk Vandeweghe and Smith’s brother, Andrew, 11-7, in the winners’ bracket semifinals of the two-day, double-elimination tournament at the Hermosa Beach Pier. The championship is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Kiraly and Steffes lost, 14-8, in the quarterfinals to seventh-seeded Brian Lewis and Pat Powers.

Smith and Stoklos, of Pacific Palisades, advanced to the winners’ bracket finals today against third-seeded Adam Johnson of Capistrano Beach and Ricci Luyties of Pacific Palisades.

“We beat Sinjin and Randy, 10-3, at Santa Cruz last week,” Johnson said. “That should help us psychologically against them here.”

Johnson and Luyties rallied from a 13-11 deficit in the final minute to defeat Lewis and Powers, 15-13, in the other semifinal. Matches were played under an eight-minute limit, with the clock running only when the ball was in play.

Johnson, a former USC star and U.S. national team member, finished third at Hermosa Beach last year with Steve Timmons. He and Luyties have won two tournaments this season.

But the duo got off to a bad start against Lewis and Powers, falling behind, 5-0. They trailed, 13-11, with 1:05 left, but an ace by Johnson and two blocks by Luyties keyed a 4-0 run. “The ace was a key because we had only 45 seconds left, and we needed some big points,” Johnson said.

Smith and Stoklos needed a 6-1 run to break away after a 3-3 tie.

“The difference was that we started putting the pressure on Bruk,” Stoklos said. “He’s a great player, but he doesn’t have all that much range for a guy who’s 6 feet 5.

“And it seems like Andrew is very successful against his brother. I don’t know what it is.”

Smith and Vandeweghe, the brother of the NBA’s Kiki Vandeweghe, pulled two upsets to reach the semifinals. They beat fifth-seeded Brent Frohoff and Scott Ayakatubby, 14-8, in the second round, and then defeated Tim Hovland and Mike Dodd, 10-7.

Lewis, of Newport Beach, and Powers, of San Diego, dominated Kiraly and Steffes in the quarterfinals, taking leads of 9-1 and 11-3 before time expired.