BEACH VOLLEYBALL : Dodd, Whitmarsh Win at Seal Beach

Mike Dodd’s soft, arching shot seemed to hang in midair, waiting for Kent Steffes to slide under and elevate the ball back into play in order to keep his team’s championship hopes alive.

With every step toward the ball, however, Steffes seemed to go nowhere.

Finally, the ball came to rest in the sand, giving Dodd and partner Mike Whitmarsh a come-from-behind 15-14 overtime victory Sunday in the final of the Miller Lite Open in Seal Beach.

“This is the best open I’ve ever played in,” Dodd said after retaining his title. “It doesn’t get any more exciting than that.”

In 14 years playing professionally, Dodd has won 63 titles, five at Seal Beach.

What made this match so memorable was how he and Whitmarsh overcame deficits of 11-6 and 14-12 to stage a comeback that came down to the final seconds on the rally clock.

Steffes and partner Karch Kiraly reached game point after Dodd and Whitmarsh seemed to expend the last of their energy racing down a pair of wayward shots.

Dodd dived toward the stands to run down a loose ball, lifting it back over his head toward Whitmarsh, who maneuvered around the referee stand and a ball boy in a futile effort to keep the rally alive.

After a timeout during which Whitmarsh never left his landing site under the referee stand, he gathered himself and stuffed an errant pass from Steffes to pull his team to within 14-13.

After consecutive sideouts, only 4.5 seconds remained on the clock, meaning that Dodd and Whitmarsh had to score on their next serve or time would undoubtedly expire.

Dodd lifted his serve to Kiraly, who got the set back and pounded it off Whitmarsh’s block, only to see Dodd get it back to Whitmarsh for an off-balance spike over the middle.

Kiraly ran the ball down and again was set up to end the match, but his spike went directly at Dodd, who made the dig, got a set from Whitmarsh and put the ball right down center for the tying point.

“Nine out of 10 times, Karch hits that ball right off my nose,” Dodd said.

With the crowd on its feet, Dodd returned to the service line and once again made Kiraly receive.

Kiraly tried again to get his spike through the arms of the 6-foot-7 Whitmarsh, but Whitmarsh got enough of the ball to enable his partner to make the dig. Whitmarsh then gave Dodd the set, and the 36-year-old dinked the ball in front of Steffes for the winning point.

“I think Kent got stuck in the sand a little bit,” Dodd said.

In the women’s final, Cammy Ciarelli and Holly McPeak came out of the losers’ bracket to retain their title with two consecutive victories over Brazilians Sandra Pires and Jackie Silva.

Ciarelli and McPeak took a 10-0 lead and won the first match, 15-3.

They won the second, 7-3, after overcoming a 3-0 deficit.