Brazil’s Loiola, Rego Win U.S. Open Title

If this match gets played a month from now, it becomes one of the best in the young history of Olympic beach volleyball.

As it is, the 85-minute marathon in the championship of the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals U.S. Open was as enthralling as it was lengthy Sunday at Seal Beach.

Two teams on their way to the Olympics--one representing Brazil, the other the United States--delivered a world-class performance.

No medals were handed out, but the Brazilian duo of Jose Loiola and Emanuel Rego, the top-ranked team in the world, will gladly take a 19-17 victory over Eric Fonoimoana and Dain Blanton.

Each team faced match point at least twice, but Rego and Emanuel scored when it mattered most, a kill by Rego breaking a 17-17 tie and a hitting error by Fonoimoana ending the match.

“Right now we’re playing the best volleyball we can play, which is perfect,” Loiola said. “You don’t want to peak too early and you don’t want to peak too late for the Olympics. We wanted to peak at this time of year, not any time earlier.”

They’ve succeeded.

Loiola and Rego have won three tournaments in a row, including international events in Austria and Belgium earlier this month.

On the whole, they have won 11 international tournaments the last two years, making them the favorite to win gold in the Olympics.

Loiola, who has earned nearly $2 million in his career, has been considered one of the top players in the world for many years.

All he lacks is a gold medal.

“Forget about the money,” Loiola said. “Now I want the medal. It’s personal.”

Fonoimoana and Blanton, who snagged the second and final U.S. spot last week, led Loiola and Rego by scores of 15-14 and 17-16, but couldn’t finish when needed.

Fonoimoana sat with his head in his hands for several minutes after the match. What could have been will have to wait.

Still, progress was made against a team that has always been problematic for Blanton and Fonoimoana.

“We’re right there,” Blanton said. “We knew we could play with them before the tournament. This just gives us more confidence.”

Besides, Blanton said, there might be a rematch with more at stake in the near future.

“Believe me, I’d take a win at Sydney for a win here,” Blanton said. “I hope the cards fall in the right place.”

Loiola and Rego defeated Blanton and Fonoimoana earlier in the day, 15-12, erasing a 7-1 deficit and bouncing Blanton-Fonoimoana into the loser’s bracket of the double-elimination tournament.

Blanton, who lives in Santa Monica, and Fonoimoana, who lives in Hermosa Beach, worked their way into the championship by defeating Lee LeGrande and Franco Neto, 15-6, in the loser’s bracket championship.