BEACH VOLLEYBALL : Kiraly and Steffes Run Streak to 8

Kent Steffes and Karch Kiraly are now both lucky and good.

They won the Manhattan Beach Open with a 1-0, double-final victory over Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos on Sunday at the Manhattan Beach Pier.

The double-final, which was played to three points or until one minute elapsed on the rally clock, was necessary because Smith and Stoklos, coming out of the losers’ bracket, beat top-seeded Kiraly and Steffes, 11-10, in the main final.

Normally, the double-final would be a game to five points or seven minutes, but the restraints of live television forced them to play an abbreviated game.

Steffes and Kiraly got the only point they would need on a spike by Steffes.

The loss in the main final ended a streak dating to May 31 in which Steffes and Kiraly did not lose a game.

But they still managed to win their eighth consecutive tournament on the pro beach volleyball tour.

“I think we were a little lucky,” said Kiraly, who added the final was one of the worst he and Steffes had played during the streak.

That Smith and Stoklos were able to play the top-ranked team on the tour so closely is an accomplishment in itself, considering they had played four elimination games before meeting Kiraly and Steffes.

By contrast, Steffes and Kiraly breezed into the final, winning, 15-3, 15-0, 15-9, 15-3, 15-6 and 15-7.

With the title, Steffes and Kiraly moved closer to the pro volleyball record of 13 consecutive championships, set by Jim Menges and Greg Lee during the 1975 and 1976 seasons. And Steffes is thinking about it already.

“It’s only five tournaments away,” he said. “And now we’re going back to the hard-packed courts, where Karch and I do some of our best play.”