Rock, Kirby Back With Winning Attitude, Performance

The day’s work belonged in the sports page. The week that preceded it would have been perfect fodder for a soap opera update.

When we last checked in with Angela Rock and Karolyn Kirby, they were fighting like alley cats during a loss in the final of a beach volleyball tournament in Las Vegas.

After spending the next five days as far away from each other as possible to rethink, resolve and rekindle things, the acid edge came out of their partnership.

“I can’t explain how bad it was,” Kirby said of their emotional outburst in the Nevada desert a week ago. “We were devastated. We felt like we didn’t finish the job. On top of that, we totally attacked each other. We had never screamed at each other like that before. We were out of control.”

Whatever psychological quick fix La Mesa’s Kirby and Carlsbad’s Rock used, it culminated in a victory at the $40,000 Coors Light San Diego Open Sunday in Pacific Beach. Kirby-Rock went undefeated over the two-day tournament and defeated Linda Carrillo and Liz Masakayan, 15-12, in the championship. With 16 career titles now in tow, they became the winningest team in the six-year history of the Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn.

The record was a nice asterisk, but it wasn’t the highlight of the day by a long shot.

“The record wasn’t that was on my mind,” Rock said. “I wanted to play without all the negatives. I wanted to compete to the best of my ability and have a better image (of the partnership) whether we were down or up. I knew eventually we’d get the record. The important thing was to get back on track with my partner.”

What transpired in Las Vegas was hard to pinpoint. After all, Kirby-Rock were 7-1, not exactly the kind of performance that sends athletes into tailspins.

“We played unbelievable volleyball for seven games,” said Kirby. “In the final we got a slow start and immediately went into the pressure cooker. We never worked it out. We never rallied back.”

Maybe there was a residue from their loss in the World Championship there last summer, where a fourth-place finish was the low point of their season. Kirby isolated this year’s showing in Las Vegas as a funk so blue she contemplated not playing in San Diego.

“It was so disappointing. We had to go our separate ways to think and to put everything back into perspective,” she said.

That meant no contact except a mid-week phone call, where they hashed out their grievances and discovered they shared the same gripes.

“I was looking at the symptoms of the problem, she was looking at the core of the problem,” Rock said. “We had two different opinions, but we came together because we realized they were the same issues: impatience and court behavior.

“We decided we needed to treat each other better. I know I can be a distraction when I’m screaming and ranting and raving. I need to understand that that bothers her. We eliminated that. It’s cool to scream, but you have to know when your going to affect just yourself and when you’re going to affect your partner.”

Nothing seemed to affect them this time. The top-seeded Kirby-Rock, who won their fourth tournament this year, split $9,400 and upped their season earnings to $36,150 each with this title, trailed fifth-seeded Patty Dodd and Elaine Roque, 7-2, before they won it 15-13.

In the championship, second-seeded Carrillo-Masakayan showed the fatigue of coming through the losers’ bracket. Cammy Ciarelli and Jackie Silva, who finished with their second consecutive third-place finish, sent them to the consolation bracket with a 15-7 victory in the morning.

Carrillo-Masakayan fended off San Diego’s Gail Castro and Lori Kotas, then defeated Janice Harrer and Nancy Reno to earn their second meeting of the day against Ciarelli-Silva, who they wore down, 15-12.

When it was time to met Kirby-Rock, Carrillo-Masakayan’s energy reserve had been depleted.

“It’s hard to go through the losers’ bracket,” Carrillo said. “I was tired in the game before, and Liz was tired in the final. Our passing game was off, and so was our serving.”

Masakayan, who served 11 aces in this tournament, pulled a shoulder muscle early in the game and wasn’t as effective as she had been.

The lead changed three times before Kirby-Rock took a 8-7 lead and never trailed again. Kirby-Rock combined for 24 kills and Kirby finished the game off when she went up for a block.

Kirby-Rock’s career victory record broke the standard set by Carrillo and Silva in 1987 and 1988.

“I guess I’m being a little selfish,” Carrillo said. “But back then, we only had nine or 10 tournaments a year. Now we have 16 or 17. It’s easier to catch up.”