Top Teams Ready for Seal Beach Pro Volleyball Tournament

The Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour is back in Seal Beach this weekend after a two-year absence. The 40-team field in the $50,000 Seal Beach Open is headed by the top-seeded team of Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson, who have won three AVP titles this season. Kiraly is only six AVP tour victories from Sinjin Smith’s record of 139, but he has never won at Seal Beach in 12 attempts.

Kiraly and Johnson’s toughest competition could come from the second-seeded team of Kent Steffes and Mike Whitmarsh, who are coming off their first AVP tour title last weekend in Chicago. Steffes and Whitmarsh had ninth-place finishes in their first two events as a team. Steffes and Kiraly took the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Whitmarsh and Mike Dodd won the silver in Atlanta.

The fourth-seeded team of Jose Loiola and Emanuel Rego are one of newest and most athletic teams on the AVP tour. Loiola and Steffes won five events this season and were the top team last year, but Loiola left Steffes in late May for Rego, a fellow Brazilian. Loiola and Rego figure to be one of the top contenders for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. They already have won the Cleveland event after being together only three weeks.

Other top teams include third-seeded Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana and fifth-seeded Dax Holdren and Todd Rogers.

The double elimination Seal Beach Open, the 16th stop on the AVP tour, will be played today and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The championship match is scheduled for 2 p.m. Admission is free for most bleacher seats. Reserved center court seating is $10 today, $20 Saturday and $25 Sunday.