Advertisement

Arce Simplifies Format by Sweeping Her Matches

Share
TIMES STAFF WRITER

Going into her last match Sunday, Manhattan Beach’s Lisa Arce heard several versions of how many points she needed to win the first Op Best of the Beach Invitational in Huntington Beach.

A television announcer told her she needed eight points, another person said six. Someone else mentioned seven to tie.

Confused by the scoring but unfazed nevertheless, Arce decided to do the one thing she knew would cure everything.

Advertisement

“At a certain point,” she said, “I thought, ‘Just win.’ ”

That was the right approach because the only numbers that ultimately mattered were Arce’s 12-9 time-shortened victory with partner Barbra Fontana and the $30,000 winner’s share.

Arce, 29, chosen best blocker and hitter on the now defunct Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. tour in 1997, was seeded No. 1 in the tournament, styled after the men’s King of the Beach tournament.

Each woman played one match with a different partner, and Arce was the only one of the four finalists to win all three matches.

The other three women won only one match apiece. Sixth-seeded Angela Rock took second place by scoring five points more than she gave up over the last two days. Second-seeded Holly McPeak and fourth-seeded Fontana shared third place with three points.

Arce had 24 points going into the final match and Rock was the only woman who had a chance to upset her. But Carlsbad’s Rock, playing with Manhattan Beach’s McPeak, needed to score a 15-6 victory to win, 15-7 to tie.

When Rock hit long and Arce/Fontana went ahead, 8-5, Rock couldn’t win by enough points to overtake Arce.

Advertisement

Arce/Fontana held a 5-2 lead before Rock/McPeak tied the score, 5-5. Arce countered with an ace and a service winner before Rock hit long. The lead eventually reached 10-5 before Rock/McPeak battled to 11-9 with seconds left on the rally clock.

“[Arce] played the steadiest of all of us, and Angela was the second steadiest,” said McPeak, who is Arce’s partner on the FIVB World Series.

They leave Tuesday for a four-week stretch of tournaments in France, China and Japan, with the Goodwill Games in New York during the second week.

The surprise of the tournament was Rock’s second-place finish. Not competing regularly on the World Series tour, and with no domestic tour this year, Rock, 34, prepared for the tournament over the last two weeks after not playing “in months.”

“It was real important [to do well] because the big focus of the year was this tournament,” Rock said. “It was was a real bright spot in a tough year for women’s volleyball.”

Arce entered the day in third place (with eight points carried over), trailing Fontana (16 points) and McPeak (12) and just ahead of Rock (two).

Advertisement

Arce/McPeak defeated Rock/Fontana by a disappointing 15-10 margin, given they are usually partners. They had won 10 of the last 16 domestic events in their career and posted a 97-14 match record in 19 events.

Advertisement