Brazilian Team Proves AVP Tour Is Not Just for U.S. Players

Eduardo “Anjinho” Bacil and Jose Loiola had hopes of making it big on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ beach tour when they left Rio de Janeiro for El Segundo last spring.

They rented a house from Tim Hovland, one of the top players on the tour, and began training in Manhattan Beach for the upcoming season.

Since then, the Brazilians have beaten their landlord and several other top-ranked teams, becoming the first prominent foreign team on the AVP tour.

They are seeded seventh at this weekend’s $150,000 Miller Lite Open at Seal Beach and have more than exceeded early expectations. They finished second twice this season, including last weekend at Grand Haven, Mich.

They also have finished third, fourth twice, and have beaten every top team except No. 1-ranked Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes.

“This is the first time a team has come over from another country and made the finals in (an AVP event),” said Corona del Mar’s Brian Lewis, one of the top-ranked players. “That shows there’s a tremendous pool of talent throughout world, and it’s a shame that our tour is limited to just the United States.”

With the dominance of Kiraly and Steffes the last two years and the split of Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos, the AVP men’s tour has been in desperate need of new talent.

Enter Bacil and Loiola.

Bacil, 22, is ranked 14th on the tour, and Loiola, 23, is rated 15th. They’re on track to win nearly $60,000 in prize money this season, a rookie record.

Bacil, a 6-foot-2 setter and a strong back-row player, was a member of Brazil’s junior and national teams. Loiola, 6-4, has a strong serve and ranks among the hardest hitters on the tour.

The Brazilians met as teammates on a club team in 1989 and began playing on the beach together. After upsetting Smith and Stoklos in the semifinals of the Federation of International Volleyball world championships in February, Bacil and Loiola decided they were ready for the AVP tour.

The move proved costly. They snubbed their country’s volleyball federation to join the AVP, and didn’t get permission from Brazilian federation officials to leave. As a result, the federation suspended them for four months.

Now, if they can just get Hovland to lower their rent.

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Bacil grew up playing soccer, and his skills came in handy during a volleyball match against Hovland and Scott Ayakatubby this summer in Ocean City, Md.

While chasing a ball in the backcourt, Bacil found himself with his back to the net. Rather than use his wrists to bump the ball, he used an over-the-head bicycle kick, a soccer move made famous by Pele. Beach volleyball rules allow players to use their feet to keep a ball in play, but they rarely take advantage of it.

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Newcomers: Women’s volleyball has made its debut under the AVP banner this season. Eight of the top players left the Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. tour last spring to compete for $325,000 in AVP bonus pool prize money.

Cammy Ciarelli of Huntington Beach and Holly McPeak of Manhattan Beach are top seeded in the women’s tournament at Seal Beach.

Ciarelli and McPeak won four consecutive tournaments but lost to Linda Hanley and Jackie Silva, 15-14, in overtime last week in Grand Haven, Mich.

The women’s tournament begins at 10 a.m. Saturday with round-robin play, and the finals are tentatively scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

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Stat of the week: There’s no question Kiraly is one of the best to play on the beach. He has won 73 open tournaments, trailing only Smith (134) and Stoklos (116).

But one tournament championship has always eluded him--the Seal Beach Open. He has never won it in its 10-year history.

Last year, Kiraly and Steffes entered Seal Beach with 13 consecutive tournament titles and a chance to set the tour record. Brian Lewis and Mike Whitmarsh beat them in a losers’ bracket match on the final day of the tournament.

Past Seal Beach champions: 1992--Pat Powers-Mike Dodd; 1991--Smith-Stoklos; 1990--Smith-Stoklos; 1989--Steffes-Jon Stevenson; 1988--Dodd-Tim Hovland; 1987--Smith-Stoklos; 1986--Dodd-Hovland; 1985--Smith-Stoklos; 1984--Stevenson-John Hanley.

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Tournament schedule: Competition begins at 9 a.m. Friday, 10 a.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday and ends about 5 p.m. each day. The women’s finals are tentatively scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Sunday and the men’s finals at 2 p.m.

NBC will televise the men’s matches live Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m., followed by taped highlights of the women’s matches.

The winning men’s team will split $30,000, while the eight-player women’s circuit is competing for points in a $325,000 bonus pool awarded at the end of the summer.

Notes

Top-seeded teams: Men--1. Kiraly-Steffes, 2. Stoklos-Lewis, 3. Mike Dodd-Mike Whitmarsh, 4. Adam Johnson-Scott Ayakatubby, 5. Brent Frohoff-Bruk Vandeweghe, 6. Smith-Ricci Luyties, 7. Bacil-Loiola, 8. Tim Hovland-Eric Fonoimoana, 9. Al Janc-Craig Moothart, 10. Troy Tanner-Eric Wurts. Women--1. Ciarelli-McPeak; 2. Nancy Reno-Angela Rock; 3. Hanley-Silva; 4. Rita Crockett-Linda Carrillo.

AVP tour bonus pool standings: Men--1. Kiraly-Steffes, 14 victories, 152.25 points, $226,937; 3. Stoklos, two victories, 73.875 points, $76,613; 4. Johnson, one victory, 68.375 points, $66,822; 5. Vandeweghe, one victory, 65.875 points, $62,260; 6. Lewis, one victory, 64.625 points, $76,600; 7. Luyties, no victories, 63.0 points, $61,291; 8. Frohoff, no victories, 62.625 points, $60,041. 9. Dodd, one victory, 59.375 points, $67,063; 10. Whitmarsh, no victories, 57.0 points, $67,710. Women--($325,000 purse awarded at end of the season) 1. McPeak, 41 points; 2. Reno and Ciarelli, 37; 4. Rock, 36; 5. Hanley, 31; 6. Carrillo, 29; 7. Silva, 24; 8. Crockett, 21.

In an attempt to curb parking problems, a tournament shuttle service is available to fans by parking at Rockwell International, at the northwest corner of Adolpho Lopez Drive and Seal Beach Blvd. The shuttle will run from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. today, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Surfing contests: The Jamaican Style and Rock’n Fig Surf Shop pro-am surfing contest is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier. The competition starts at 7 a.m. each day.

The 23rd annual Huntington Beach summer surfing contest is scheduled for Sept. 18-19 at the Huntington Beach Pier. Entry fee for the contest, which features several age divisions, is $25. The contest is open only to people who live in Fountain Valley, Seal Beach, Westminster and Huntington Beach. For more information, call 714-536-5486.

Best on the Beach

The best ever? That’s what many beach volleyball fans are wondering about the duo of Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes, who have dominated the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals for the last two years. Their record leaves little doubt. They have won 14 of 18 tournaments entering this weekend’s Miller Lite Open at Seal Beach, where their record-tying 13-tournament winning streak was ended by Pat Powers and Mike Dodd last year. Kiraly and Steffes carry a six-tournament winning streak into Seal Beach this year and have lost only one tournament (at Chicago) in the last 12 weeks. Steffes and Kiraly have won 37 of the last 47 tournaments they have played together. 1993 AVP champions to date:

Tournament Men’s champions Honolulu, Hawaii Karch Kiraly-Kent Steffes Ft. Myers, Fla. Sinjin Smith-Randy Stoklos Pensacola, Fla. Rained out Phoenix Tim Hovland-Mike Dodd Clearwater, Fla. Kiraly-Steffes Austin, Tex. Kiraly-Steffes San Antonio, Tex. Adam Johnson- Bruk Vandeweghe Ft. Worth, Tex. Kiraly-Steffes San Diego Kiraly-Steffes Boulder, Colo. Kiraly-Steffes Cleveland Kiraly-Steffes Seaside Heights, Kiraly-Steffes N.J. Chicago Stoklos-Brian Lewis Ocean City, Md. Kiraly-Steffes Manhattan Beach Kiraly-Steffes Cape Cod, Mass. Kiraly-Steffes Belmar, N.J. Kiraly-Steffes Milwaukee Kiraly-Steffes Grand Haven, Kiraly-Steffes Mich.

Tournament Women’s champions Honolulu, Hawaii None Ft. Myers, Fla. None Pensacola, Fla. Phoenix Holly McPeak-Angela Rock Clearwater, Fla. None-Jose Cuervo event Austin, Tex. Jackie Silva-Linda Carrillo San Antonio, Tex. McPeak-Cammy Ciarelli Ft. Worth, Tex. Carrillo-Nancy Reno San Diego Ciarelli-Reno Boulder, Colo. None-Jose Cuervo event Cleveland Carrillo-McPeak Seaside Heights, McPeak-Reno N.J. Chicago Carrillo-McPeak Ocean City, Md. Rock-Linda Hanley Manhattan Beach Ciarelli-McPeak Cape Cod, Mass. Ciarelli-McPeak Belmar, N.J. Ciarelli-McPeak Milwaukee Ciarelli-McPeak Grand Haven, Hanley-Silva Mich.

Remaining tournaments: Seal Beach, Friday through Sunday; Santa Cruz, Aug. 19-21; Hermosa Beach U.S. Championships, Aug. 27-29.

Source: Assn. of Volleyball Professionals