VOLLEYBALL / SEAL BEACH OPEN : 13th-Seeded Hanson, Welch Rally to Advance

Laguna Beach’s Leif Hanson and San Clemente’s Wes Welch pulled the biggest upset of the day Friday at the $100,000 Seal Beach Open, beating fourth-seeded Brent Frohoff and Ricci Luyties, 18-16, in a second-round match.

Hanson and Welch, seeded 13th in the 48-team field, trailed, 13-7, before rallying to win. They advance to the winners’ bracket quarterfinals, where they will meet fifth-seeded Mike Dodd and Pat Powers.

The three-day, double-elimination tournament continues today with quarterfinal and semifinal matches. The championship match is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday.

Welch said he thought he and Hanson caught Frohoff and Luyties by surprise. Frohoff and Luyties are playing their first tournament together after switching partners this week.

“We knew a lot of teams were making switches, something like 10 teams,” Welch said. “We were glad to hear it. This was our sixth tournament together.”

The victory was especially rewarding to Welch, 32, who missed the first 14 tournaments of the season because he was recovering from arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage damage in his right knee. He injured his knee while snowboarding in Utah last Christmas.

“I think it (snowboarding career) is over,” Welch said. “Coming back was frustrating. I got hurt on Christmas, but I kept playing. I had never been injured before, and I didn’t know how to take care of myself. I went in for surgery in April, and I didn’t come back until the Cape Cod tournament (June 20).”

Record pace: San Clemente’s Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes of Pacific Palisades, attempting to win their record 14th consecutive tournament, cruised through their two matches Friday.

Kiraly and Steffes defeated Manhattan Beach amateurs Canyon Ceman and David Swatik, 15-5, in the first round and beat 17th-seeded Shawn Davis and Chris Young, 15-4, in the second round.

Kiraly and Steffes tied the tour record for consecutive victories, set by Jim Menges and Greg Lee in 1975-76.

“I never thought we would even get close to the record,” Steffes said.

Kiraly and Steffes will meet ninth-seeded Tim Walmer and Laguna Hills’ Scott Friederichsen in today’s winners’ bracket quarterfinals.

Capistrano Beach’s Adam Johnson, Frohoff’s former partner, said he’s pleased with his new teammate, Tim Hovland. Johnson and Hovland, seeded second, won their first- and second-round matches and will meet 10th-seeded Craig Moothart and Al Janc in the quarterfinals.

“Hov is a great teacher,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t happy playing with Brent, and I wanted to make a change. We had played well, but in five tournaments, we never made the finals once. I needed back in the finals.

“I think I learned from my mistakes earlier in the year. I stayed with Ricci (Luyties) for 10 tournaments and we didn’t win. I should have made a change after six.”

Other teams advancing to the winners’ bracket quarterfinals were third-seeded Mike Whitmarsh and Corona del Mar’s Brian Lewis, and 11th-seeded Eric Boyles of Dana Point and San Diego’s Troy Tanner, who upset sixth-seeded Larry Mear of San Clemente and Eric Wurts of Huntington Beach, 15-5, in the second round.

Seal Beach Open Notes

Competition resumes at 10 a.m. today, with the winners’ bracket quarterfinal matches. NBC (Channel 4) begins its live telecast at 2 p.m.

Results

Second round

Karch Kiraly-Kent Steffes d. Shawn Davis-Chris Young, 15-4; Mike Dodd-Pat Powers d. Robert Chavez-Doug Foust, 15-0; Wes Welch-Leif Hanson d. Brent Frohoff-Ricci Luyties, 18-16; Scott Friederichsen-Tim Walmer d. Roger Clark-John Hanley, 15-5; Brian Lewis-Mike Whitmarsh d. Brian Gatzke-Jeff Rodgers, 15-6; Tim Hovland-Adam Johnson d. Sean Fallowfield-John Brajevic, 15-10; Eric Boyles-Troy Tanner d. Eric Wurts-Larry Mear, 15-5; Craig Moothart-Al Janc d. Dan Vrebalovich-Bruk Vandeweghe, 12-11 (nine-minute time clock expired).

Quarterfinal pairings

Kiraly-Steffes vs. Friederichsen-Walmer; Dodd-Powers vs. Hanson-Welch; Lewis-Whitmarsh vs. Boyles-Tanner; Johnson-Hovland vs. Moothart-Janc.