Erasing Their Line in the Sand

Stein Metzger was hanging out at the Outrigger Canoe Club in Honolulu last month, as he usually does when he visits his hometown, when he got an unexpected tap on the shoulder.

Kevin Wong, his longtime friend and former beach volleyball partner, wanted to talk.

They hadn’t spoken in more than a year, a silence brought on by their bitter breakup as a team in August 2003. But on this occasion, they spoke at length.

By the end of the conversation, they had broached the topic of reuniting on the beach, and a few days later, they agreed to give it a try.

And so, the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Santa Barbara Invitational beginning today officially marks the end of one of beach volleyball’s most intense player feuds.

Metzger and Wong aren’t the only reconstituted team. All four men’s U.S. Olympians, Metzger included, will have different partners for the season-ending tournament and there are eight teams playing together for the first time this season.

None, however, has raised as many eyebrows as Metzger and Wong.

“I was totally taken aback by it,” Metzger said of Wong’s gesture. “I wasn’t expecting it at all. He apologized for the way things happened a year ago and suggested that it was time to put everything behind us.”

Other players, even those close to the situation, were also caught off-guard.

“It was a big surprise to everybody,” said Eric Fonoimoana, who played with Wong for the past year. “That was the last thing I saw coming down the road.”

Metzger and Wong were longtime friends. They went to high school together in Hawaii and were roommates at UCLA. Their families are friends.

They joined forces on the beach in 2001 and had immediate success with two victories in five domestic events and six top-five finishes in 11 international events.

In August 2003, they moved into second place on the Olympic qualification list. But a week later, Wong dumped Metzger to play with Fonoimoana. Metzger found out when his girlfriend read about the switch in this newspaper.

Wong said he tried to call Metzger, but Metzger didn’t believe it. Incensed, he did not speak to Wong until Wong approached him in Hawaii.

“It’s too small a place to have bad blood,” Wong said. “I apologized for the way things went down and then said, ‘Wouldn’t it be crazy if we finished the year together?’ ”

Metzger said he needed a few days to think about it, then later agreed.

“It’s been an awkward year,” Metzger said. “We’d be at all the same AVP functions, playing in the same tournaments, but we’d never speak to each other. It’s nice to get that behind us.”

It will take a while for the friendship to fully recover, and neither has committed to a 2005 partnership, but both realize that they are a formidable team.

“He is definitely the guy I have the best chance at winning with,” Metzger said.

Partner switches are common in beach volleyball, but several teams stayed together longer than they might have because of the 19-month Olympic qualifying process. They also accumulated AVP Nissan Series points and were eligible for tournaments based on those points.

Now that the Olympics are past, and because the Santa Barbara tournament is an invitational, the swap meet has begun.

Dax Holdren, who teamed with Metzger to reach the quarterfinals at the Athens Olympics, will play with fellow Olympian Jeff Nygaard. Dain Blanton, Nygaard’s partner for the last two years, will play with rookie star Phil Dalhausser.

Mike Lambert, the favorite for AVP most valuable player, will team with Fonoimoana. Lambert and regular partner Karch Kiraly have won three times this season, but Kiraly is recovering from shoulder surgery and will not play.

But even with all the high-profile players switching partners, Metzger and Wong are the talk of the tour.

“It’s one of those things that you hear about, you laugh and shake your head and you’re like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ” Nygaard said.

For Metzger and Wong, it’s no joke. They like their chances in Santa Barbara, and, more important, they like their chances of remaining friends.

“It’s good to have closure,” Wong said.

*

This Weekend

* What: Santa Barbara Invitational, an Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Nissan Series event.

* When: Today and Sunday. Matches begin at 9:30 a.m. Women’s final, Sunday, 2 p.m.; Men’s final, Sunday, 3:15 p.m.

* Where: West Beach, Santa Barbara Pier.

* Top-seeded men’s teams: 1. Todd Rogers/Sean Scott; 2. Mike Lambert/Eric Fonoimoana; 3. George Roumain/Jason Ring; 4. Dax Holdren/Jeff Nygaard.

* Top-seeded women’s teams: 1. Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs; 2. Kerri Walsh/Misty May; 3. Annett Davis/Jenny Johnson Jordan; 4. Nancy Mason/Carrie Busch.

* Television: FSN West, Sunday 2 p.m.

* Tickets: $10 general admission, $25 reserved, $50 Beach Club.