Kiraly, Lambert Keep Winning

Karch Kiraly and Mike Lambert stole the show Friday at the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Huntington Beach Open, as the reunited team rolled through the first day unbeaten in three matches and is one victory from the final four.

Kiraly, beach volleyball’s all-time leader in professional victories, and Lambert, the 2004 AVP most valuable player, parted ways after three tournaments this year but got back together for Huntington Beach.

They upended second-seeded Stein Metzger and Jake Gibb, 17-21, 21-18, 19-17, in one of the day’s most compelling matches. Metzger and Gibb have a tour-best three victories this season.

It is the first time this season that Kiraly has made it through the first day of a tournament unbeaten. Kiraly and Lambert will face Sean Rosenthal and Larry Witt at 7:50 a.m. today for a berth in the semifinals. The men’s final is at 1:30 p.m.

“I’m very happy with how things came together for us so far,” Kiraly said. “How could I not be? We beat the best team on the tour.”

Top-seeded Jeff Nygaard and Dax Holdren, who have only one victory but five finals appearances, also won three times Friday and will play fifth-seeded Todd Rogers and Sean Scott today. The women’s tournament, which runs through Sunday, played two rounds Friday. Top-seeded Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor won their two matches. The top seven seeded women’s teams were unbeaten.

Peter Yoon

*

Pro Football

Chicago Bear quarterback Rex Grossman broke his left ankle early during the second quarter of a 17-13 exhibition loss to the St. Louis Rams at St. Louis and is expected to be sidelined at least three months.

Grossman was hurt with 11:08 left in the half while completing a four-yard pass to Darnell Sanders. After being flushed out of the pocket by Jeremy Loyd and Trev Faulk, Grossman was spun around by Faulk.

Rookie quarterback Matt Cassel of USC directed four scoring drives to lead the visiting New England Patriots to a 23-13 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.... Matt Bryant kicked a 33-yard field goal 3:02 into overtime at Nashville, giving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a 20-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans.... Jay Fiedler capped a 98-yard drive with a one-yard run in the New York Jets’ 10-3 victory over the Detroit Lions at East Rutherford, N.J.

Seneca Wallace scored on a 24-yard scramble and passed for another touchdown in the Seattle Seahawks’ 34-15 victory over the Saints at New Orleans.... Daunte Culpepper, who completed his first five passes, capped a 65-yard drive with a 33-yard touchdown pass play to Nate Burleson to lead the Minnesota Vikings to a 27-16 win over the Kansas City Chiefs at Minneapolis.

Tennis

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, needing only 72 minutes to defeat Mariano Puerta, 6-3, 6-1, in a rematch of the French Open final. Nadal will play Paul-Henri Mathieu, who beat Karol Beck, 6-1, 6-2.

Fourth-seeded Andre Agassi was ahead of sixth-seeded Gaston Gaudio, 6-3 and 15-15 in the first game of the second set, when the match was suspended because of rain.

Diving

Laura Wilkinson finished with a near perfect dive to win her fourth consecutive platform gold medal at the U.S. Championships in Huntersville, N.C.

Wilkinson trailed Brittany Viola going into her fifth dive, a back 2 1/2 somersault with 1 1/2 twists. She got one nine and five perfect 10s from the judges to finish with 541.800 points. Viola finished second with 507.420 points.

Troy Dumais beat his brother Justin to win his fourth consecutive three-meter springboard title. He had 712.800 points. Justin had 684.090.

Motor Racing

NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch will be back to fulfill the last year of his contract with Roush Racing because his car owner will not let him go early. Jack Roush said Busch sought a release for 2006 after telling him this week that he had a deal for 2007 with Roger Penske. Busch said he understood and is focused on winning another title or two before moving to Penske.

Gymnastics

Todd Thornton won his first all-around title at the U.S. Championships in Indianapolis. He finished with 106.9 points, more than a point ahead of David Sender (105.500).

The victory gave Thornton a spot on the team for the world championships, to be held Nov. 21-27 in Melbourne, Australia.

WNBA

Shameka Christon scored seven points in the second overtime as the New York Liberty overcame an 18-point first-half deficit to beat the Charlotte Sting, 82-74, at Charlotte, N.C. ... Sue Bird scored 20 points to help the Seattle Storm beat the Minnesota Lynx, 72-66, at Minneapolis. ... Penny Taylor had 23 points to lead help the Phoenix Mercury end the Sacramento Monarchs’ seven-game winning streak with a 76-62 victory at Phoenix. The Mercury’s Diana Taurasi did not play in the second half after bruising her right knee just before halftime.

Jurisprudence

Connecticut point guard A.J. Price was arrested in connection with the theft of four laptops from student dorm rooms in Storrs.

Price, 19, a highly touted sophomore, surrendered to police and was charged with three felony larceny charges and with lying to police, a misdemeanor.

Miscellany

The Long Beach Sprint Nationals, featuring championship circle boat racing, as well as personal watercraft, will be presented by the Southern California Speedboat Club today and Sunday in Marine Stadium.

Racing begins at 10 a.m. Admission is $10. The stadium is at 5255 Paoli Way in Long Beach.