Winning Is Old Hat for Whitmarsh

When his back barks and his joints creak, Mike Whitmarsh is glad he owns a Jacuzzi.

As time collects behind him, he feels every month of his 39 years, especially after a long day at the beach.

But try as they might, the young kids still can’t beat him.

Whitmarsh, who won the silver medal with Mike Dodd at the 1996 Olympics, usually dishes out as much pain as he feels, as evidenced Saturday at the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Huntington Beach Open.

Whitmarsh and Canyon Ceman advanced to the semifinals of the winner’s bracket with a 21-14, 24-22 victory over Lee LeGrande and newcomer Mark Williams, showing that youth is not always served.

“The time’s slowly catching up to me now,” Whitmarsh said. “I don’t just roll out of bed anymore. There’s a lot of groaning and moaning.”

He looked healthy against LeGrande and Williams, collecting four blocks and living up to his reputation as one of the top blockers in the AVP.

Whitmarsh, hair flecked with gray, smiled as he looked around the venue. The new rules changes for the AVP, specifically a shorter court and rally-scored matches, have led to an influx of young players. It’s hard to keep track.

“We have to get a name-tag thing going on out here,” he said. “I have to introduce myself to half the guys I play. I used to have a little black book on everybody’s tendencies, but there’s about 10 new teams out here this year.”

Whitmarsh, who contemplated retirement halfway through last season but played well enough at the end to change his mind, wasn’t the only old-timer to succeed Saturday.

Scott Ayakatubby, 36, has had three knee surgeries. He has nine screws and a steel plate in his right hand. But he took a good-sized step in his comeback by advancing to the winners’ semifinals with partner Eduardo Bacil.

Ayakatubby and Bacil defeated Casey Jennings and Sean Rosenthal, 22-20, 19-21, 15-11, and will play Whitmarsh-Ceman today for a spot in the final.

Ayakatubby won eight tournaments in 1995 and two in 1996, but underwent his first knee surgery in 1997. He played one tournament in 1998, had another surgery, and sat out 1999.

He’s getting back into the flow . . . slowly.

“I kind of warm up like I’m 80,” he said. “Some of these young kids bang the . . . out of the ball during warm-ups, but I just come out and hit easy shots. I’m just having fun getting out there, getting sandy, knowing my body feels pretty good.”

Ayakatubby was strong against Jennings and Rosenthal, delivering 28 kills.

Colin Smith and two-time indoor volleyball Olympian Mike Lambert will play Nick Hannemann and Adam Jewell in the other winner’s semifinal today.