Americans Set to Draw the Line in the Sand

Karch Kiraly and American partner Kent Steffes beat Germany’s Jorg Ahmann and former Cal State Northridge standout Axel Hager, 15-5, to set up a showdown today with countrymen Sinjin Smith and Carl Henkel in men’s beach volleyball in Jonesboro, Ga.

Smith and Henkel had to struggle to win, 15-13, in a match that led to an unsuccessful protest by Cuba’s Francisco Alvarez and Juan Miguel Rosell.

With the Americans leading, 13-12, Alvarez was called for a mishandled ball at the net, a call that prompted an outburst from Rosell and led to a penalty point.

The Cubans fended off six match points before losing. They quickly filed a protest with the International Volleyball Federation, but it was rejected.

Also staying undefeated was the other U.S. men’s team, Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh, who defeated the Brazilian duo of Marco Ferreira and Emanuel Scheffer, 15-9.

Two of the three U.S. women’s pairs lost, and one was eliminated.

Gail Castro and Deb Richardson fell, 15-11, to Japan’s Sachiko Fujita and Yukiko Takahashi, the Americans’ second loss in as many days.

Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno lost to Australia’s Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst, 15-13, and face fellow Americans Linda Hanley and Barbra Fontana Harris in an elimination match today.