Knipe Leaves National Team to Make His Mark in Sand

Frustrated with his role on the U.S. national volleyball team, Alan Knipe quit three weeks ago and hit the beach.

Knipe, who began playing on the Bud four-player beach tour in mid-July, left the national team in early August. He devoted himself full-time to the beach tour, which ends this weekend at Clearwater, Fla.

“I didn’t see myself fitting in with the national team’s plans,” said Knipe, a 1987 Marina High graduate and a two-time All-American with Cal State Long Beach. “When you’re training with the team, you just know if you’re in the plans or not.”

Knipe, 6 feet 5, played outside hitter on the national team, which lacked depth at that position.

Although he could have stuck around and tried to make the 1996 Olympic team, Knipe didn’t think it was possible--athletically or financially.

“There are so many things going on these days, with the four-man tour, the two-man tour and playing overseas,” he said. “There’s no compensation on the national team, unless you were one of the main guys. And it’s not just for money, you need some kind of commitment to stay with the team.”

Most national team players make a minimum of $1,000 a month, but “extended-roster” players such as Knipe are paid much less, despite playing key roles on the team.

It didn’t make sense to Knipe. Why get paid peanuts to play when he could make up to $2,600 a weekend, plus get a tan and have a great time, playing on the beach?

“When it got to the point to where I thought about leaving the team,” he said, “it helped to know that there were other things out there that are fun to play in.”

Knipe accepted an invitation to join Team Paul Mitchell from former national team member Allen Allen. He moved to middle blocker, where he has averaged 4.5 kills a match and has 40 blocks through five tournaments.

“The style of play on the four-player tour makes it an easy transition for guys who are just getting done playing indoors,” Knipe said. “It’s more of a team style. With the two-man game, it takes so much more time and effort just to get in sync with your partner.”

Knipe plans to play on the beach tour again next season, and he has plenty to keep him busy in the off-season.

He plays for Asics of Huntington Beach, an age-group team that won the U.S. Volleyball Assn. men’s open division last spring in Memphis, Tenn. Knipe was named the tournament’s MVP.

In early September, he will leave for Paris to play for a team of former college players in an international indoor tournament.

He also is busy preparing for his first head coaching job. He was named Golden West College’s men’s coach earlier this week.

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Add beach volleyball: Knipe and a bunch of his Marina High buddies, Andy Klussman of the four-player tour and former Pepperdine star Duane Cameron among them, are dropping a challenge to Huntington Beach High graduates.

Knipe said he and a group of Marina players want to scrimmage a group of former Huntington Beach players to settle which school has the best volleyball alumni.

“We’ll play them on the beach or indoors,” Knipe said. “I’ve heard the Huntington guys talking about how they’ll hammer us, but they haven’t set a date for a match yet.”

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Last add beach volleyball: Some new combinations will try to knock off defending champions Karch Kiraly of San Clemente and Kent Steffes of Pacific Palisades this weekend at the $250,000 Miller Lite U.S. Championships at the Hermosa Beach Pier.

Forty-eight two-player teams will participate in the double-elimination tournament, which starts at 9 a.m. today.

NBC will televise the event at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The winning team will split $100,000.

New teams are third-seeded Ricci Luyties and Randy Stoklos, sixth-seeded Sinjin Smith and Bruk Vandeweghe, fifth-seeded Tim Hovland and Brian Lewis, and eighth-seeded Brent Frohoff and Steve Timmons.

Lewis and Stoklos played together most of the season while Smith, Vandeweghe, Timmons, Frohoff and Hovland have played with a variety of partners.

Luyties and Frohoff finished third last weekend at Santa Cruz. Hovland and Lewis played together for a short time last season.

Top-seeded Kiraly and Steffes, winners of 15 tournaments this year, and second-seeded Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh, winners of the Seal Beach Open, remain intact. Scott Ayakatubby and Adam Johnson of Capistrano Beach, who finished second to Kiraly and Steffes at Santa Cruz, are seeded fourth.

Holly McPeak of Manhattan Beach has clinched first place in the women’s standings. She and partner Cammy Ciarelli of Huntington Beach will be going for their sixth victory in seven tournaments.

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Pro surfing update: With the exception of San Clemente’s Shane Beschen, it hasn’t been a good season for Orange County competitors on the Assn. of Surfing Professionals’ world tour.

Beschen, last year’s U.S. champion, was the county’s top finisher through the first four events on the world tour. He was ranked 13th heading into the Rip Curl Pro Landes, which started Thursday in Hossegor, France.

But several top 16 regulars have slipped in this year’s rankings. Some dropped because of injuries, others because of poor performances.

Defending world-champion Kelly Slater of Cocoa Beach, Fla., who trains part-time in Huntington Beach, has been slowed by a knee injury and dropped to 14th. Newport Beach’s Richie Collins, who has a bad back, is ranked 38th.

San Clemente’s Dino Andino is in 39th place, and Seal Beach’s Marty Thomas is 43rd. Laguna Beach’s Jeff Booth (20th) and San Clemente’s Mike Parsons (22nd) have turned in solid finishes so far.

Australia’s Gary Elkerton, who skipped the Op Pro qualifying event in June, leads the tour with 2,940 points. Australian surfers hold down the top four spots.

The ASP standings:

1. Elkerton, 2,940 points; 2. Dave Macaulay (Australia), 2,836; 3. Damien Hardman (Australia), 2,632; 4. Barton Lynch (Australia), 2,492; 5. Martin Potter (England), 2,490; 6. Derek Ho (Hawaii), 2,440; 7. Vetea David (Tahiti), 2,382; 8. Matt Hoy (Australia), 2,246; 9. Luke Egan (Australia), 2,242; 10. Todd Holland (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), 2,240.

Notes

The Action Sports Retailer trade expo has been scheduled for Sept. 10-12 at the San Diego Convention Center. The show features several new surf products, clothing trends and sports demonstrations.