BEACH VOLLEYBALL : Top-Seeded Pair Do the Burning

The sand was so hot at Saturday’s $20,000 pro beach volleyball World Championships in Manhattan Beach that most players wore special sand socks to compete. The gear is avoided when possible because it affects mobility.

“They’re hard to move in because they’re slippery,” top-seeded Karolyn Kirby said. “But it was so hot I almost felt like I couldn’t breathe. It was oppressive.”

But the heat wasn’t enough to prevent Kirby and partner Liz Masakayan from cruising through the quarterfinals of the 32-team event.

Kirby and Masakayan took about 20 minutes to beat ninth-seeded Jackie Campbell and Monique Oliver, 15-2. Kirby and Masakayan’s record 27-match winning streak dates to early July.

In other quarterfinals, Deb Richardson and Denny Knoop beat Janice Harrer and Shannon Millen, 15-2; Barbra Fontana and Lori Kotas beat Wendy Fletcher and Marla O’Hara, 15-4, and Elaine Roque and Gail Castro defeated Lori Biller and Alison Johnson, 15-5. Castro-Roque will meet Fontana-Kotas in today’s other semifinal at 9:30 a.m.