VOLLEYBALL SEAL BEACH OPEN : Luck Elusive for Kiraly and Steffes
The hopes of Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes winning a record 14th consecutive pro beach volleyball tournament were dealt a serious blow Saturday in the $100,000 Seal Beach Open.
Ninth-seeded Scott Friederichsen and Tim Walmer upset top-seeded Kiraly and Steffes, 10-8, in the winners’ bracket quarterfinals. Kiraly and Steffes dropped into the losers’ bracket of the double-elmination tournament.
Second-seeded Adam Johnson and Tim Hovland advanced to today’s winners’ bracket final against fifth-seeded Mike Dodd and Pat Powers. Johnson and Hovland beat Brian Lewis and Mike Whitmarsh in the semifinals, 15-12, and Dodd and Powers defeated Walmer and Friederichsen, 15-4.
Kiraly, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, and Steffes have won 13 tournaments in a row, tying the tour record set in 1975-76 by Jim Menges and Greg Lee.
Kiraly and Steffes fell behind, 9-6, with three minutes to play.
“It’s typical of us not to play well early in a tournament,” Kiraly said. “For 13 weeks, we’ve been sneaking through and stealing matches as the (nine-minute) time clock runs out.
“Today, the luck ran out on us. We waited too long to make our move.”
Saturday’s loss was the first for Kiraly and Steffes since July 5, when they played a doubles final against Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos at the Manhattan Beach Open.
Kiraly and Steffes won two losers’ bracket matches to advance to the semifinals against Lewis and Whitmarsh.
Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos have been fined and suspended for one tournament for skipping the Seal Beach Open, Jon Stevenson, president of the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals, said Saturday.
The AVP board of directors will meet early next week to determine the amount of the fine, which is expected to be at least $10,000. Smith and Stoklos have been suspended for a tournament that starts Friday in Santa Cruz.
Smith and Stoklos, the dominant team on the tour the past two seasons, skipped Seal Beach to play in the $250,000 Olympic year ’92 tournament in Almeria, Spain.