Friends Ruin His Homecoming

Getting bounced out in the first round of qualifying at his first summer beach tournament wasn’t exactly how Mike Diehl envisioned this homecoming.

Diehl, who went to Edison High and UCLA, and his partner Jason Ring had the misfortune of losing to two of their friends--Matt Fuerbringer and Casey Jennings--in Friday’s first round at the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Huntington Beach Open.

“That’s tough,” Diehl said. “We actually trained together this week, though I’ve only been in the sand about four times since I got back.”

Diehl just returned from the professional indoor season in Belgium, and felt a little beach-rusty in an 11-6, 8-11, 6-2 loss Friday.

“Don’t let Mike fool you,” said Jennings, who was born in Reno and went to Golden West College. “He’s going to be great when he gets his beach legs.”

Jennings and Fuerbringer were later defeated by the top-seeded team in the qualifier, Jeff Carlucci and Sean Rosenthal, 12-10, 11-5.

Jennings, who will return to Brigham Young in the fall, would like to eventually carve out a beach career, although his partner Fuerbringer, like Diehl, is perfectly content playing overseas.

“I look at some of my friends who stay here for beach volleyball and wonder what do they do in the winter,” said Fuerbringer, a Stanford and Estancia High alumnus who played in Austria last season. “I mean, it was a no-brainer for me to go over there.

“It’s more money and most teams will pay for your bills and expenses, your room, your car, your food, everything. Whatever you make, you bring home.”

Said Diehl: “It was the best move we’ve made. And you have a totally different perspective when you come home. Everyone says we have perma-grins.”

Spending eight months away from home will do that to a beach kid.

“I like just looking out at the ocean now,” Diehl said.

Fuerbringer gets a similar charge even from seeing a local Mexican restaurant.

“Yeah, that’s real food,” Fuerbringer said with a laugh.

But Fuerbringer recognizes his meal ticket is still the indoor game, and he’ll live with the inconveniences of living overseas for eight months of the year in exchange for a relaxing four months of Southern California summer.

And the beach game provides good off-season conditioning, although it is tough to break through on the pro beach tours because of the high talent level of the players.

Fuerbringer closed out his college career at Stanford by leading the Cardinal to the national title in 1997. He was a first-team All-American that season.

He also enjoyed a standout high school career at Estancia, where he helped the Eagles’ basketball team win a state title in 1991.

Jennings helped Golden West win a community college men’s volleyball state title in 1998, when he was the co-MVP, before he moved on to Brigham Young.

Diehl, an All-Southern Section pick from Edison High in 1988, was also an All-American at UCLA.

Many beach players have similar credentials, so the three friends had to fight through qualifying just for a shot at playing in today’s main draw. And that could mean playing someone like beach legends Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson in the first round.

“Playing Karch on center court in the first round,” Diehl said, “hey, I’d love that.”