Kiraly Gets Better of This Pairing
The scene was strange and maybe even a little awkward Saturday during a men’s third-round match in the AVP Nissan Series Huntington Beach Open.
On one side of the net near the Huntington Beach Pier stood Karch Kiraly, one half of the tournament’s defending champion team. On the other side was Brent Doble, the other half.
Kiraly and Doble parted ways during the off-season after a successful, albeit sometimes rocky two-year partnership in beach volleyball. The two often openly clashed on the court at the end of last season, but the parting was amicable and by mutual agreement.
Saturday marked their first meeting since the breakup of the team that won two tournaments in two years, and Kiraly got the better of his former partner, as he and Mike Lambert won easily, 21-16, 21-17, over Doble and Brian Lewis.
“It was a little weird, certainly,” Kiraly said. “But I don’t feel like there was a lot of animosity. We had a good season last year, but I think we were both disappointed and thought we should have had an even better season.”
Kiraly said the two grew increasingly frustrated with one another as last season went on. They won the Huntington Beach tournament but finished third, fifth and ninth in the following tournaments.
“I got frustrated,” Kiraly said. “I got down on him a little bit last year and he didn’t deserve to have me riding him as hard as I did.”
With Lambert, Kiraly appears rejuvenated and on track to defend the title that last year made him the oldest player to win an AVP tournament. Lambert, an imposing net presence, dominated at the net in the match against Doble and Lewis.
Lambert has yet to win an AVP tournament and that is motivation enough, but Saturday, he wanted to win for Kiraly.
“I wanted to block [Doble] for him,” Lambert said.
Kiraly and Lambert made it through the first day undefeated for the first time in four AVP events this season. They will play George Roumain and Jason Ring today in the fourth round of the double-elimination tournament.
Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard will play Sean Rosenthal and Larry Witt in another match of undefeated teams.
In women’s action, Misty May and Kerri Walsh cruised as expected through a bracket watered down by the absence of two top teams playing in an Olympic qualifying tournament in China. May and Walsh, the top-ranked team in the world, will play Barbara Fontana and Jennifer Kessy today.