Tourney goes to locals

Mike Sciacca

The phrase “something old, something new, something borrowed,

something blue” doesn’t just apply to wedding tradition, as was

evident at last weekend’s Assn. of Volleyball Professionals 2005

Nissan Championship Series Huntington Beach Open.

In a way, though, the four-day tournament, which drew more than

150 of the top professional beach volleyball players to the south

side of the pier, turned out to be a marriage of the traditional and

the modern.

And it’s not too often you see a rendering of the National Anthem

by a bikini-clad performer, as sung by Brittany Marsh, of the cable

network show “Dig ‘05,” prior to Sunday’s women’s final.

The “old” -- and it has nothing to do with age -- saw Karch Kiraly

win yet another tournament title in the men’s competition and the

team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, two-time defending

champion, reach the women’s final for a third consecutive year.

The “new” included the rising tandem of Elaine Youngs and Rachel

Wacholder, continuing their ascent to stardom.

The “borrowed” saw Youngs and Wacholder take the same script from

the Cincinnati Open held earlier this summer, to pull off another

stunning upset, and the “blue” was the colors worn by that same duo.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Youngs, 35, after she and

Wacholder, 30, upset the world’s No. 1-ranked women’s team in

May-Treanor, 28, and Walsh, 27, in a dazzling sweep Sunday, 21-15,

21-16.

They first accomplished the feat of defeating May-Treanor and

Walsh at the Cincinnati Open on July 2.

Kiraly re-teamed with Mike Lambert for the first time in three

months to win the men’s final on Saturday.

The two were partners for the first two Nissan Series opens,

before splitting and playing with other partners.

Kiraly and Lambert, seeded seventh in the tournament, came from

behind to down the sixth-seeded team of Sean Rosenthal and Larry

Witt, 15-21, 26-24, 17-15, in a match marked with fever-pitch

intensity.

Kiraly, 44, is the winningest player in beach volleyball history

with 148 victories, and he and Lambert, 31, became the sixth men’s

team to win a tournament title in the AVP Nissan Championship Series

this year.

Both the men’s and women’s finals were played out before a packed

house at the pier, and both were won by athletes who were either born

or raised in Orange County, or who currently reside here.

The finals were telecast on NBC.

Kiraly, the only three-time Olympic gold medalist, won the

Huntington Beach Open in 2003 with then-partner Brent Doble.

“It never gets old; it only gets sweeter,” said Kiraly, of San

Clemente. “I cherish them even more because the field is so tough and

it’s really hard to beat a good team twice in the same tournament.

And we beat Stein [Metzger] and [Jake] Gibb twice and these guys

[Rosenthal and Witt] twice.

“Rosy and Witt are great players, they’re like 24, like half my

age. There’s like eight teams out there that can win on any given

week.”

Kiraly had 124 kills in 16 games, which topped the men’s field.

He also had 76 digs.

Lambert, who lives in Costa Mesa, was a big force at the net

Saturday.

He had a tournament-best 48 blocks and finished with 68 kills in

16 games.

He is the reigning AVP MVP.

“To break up and be back with Karchy is awesome,” Lambert said.

“How does Pippen feel playing with Jordan? This is Jordan right here.

There’s no one more clutch than Karch.

“Even if you have a guy who’s younger, jumps higher, and hits

harder, no one has as much confidence as him and no one is more

clutch.”

Karch returned Sunday to handle live, play-by-play-announcing

chores for the women’s final, when Youngs, raised in El Toro, and

Wacholder, who hails from Laguna Beach, played a near flawless match

in sweeping May-Treanor and Walsh.

Wacholder provided great defense and landed near-perfect “rainbow”

shots in the two games, while Youngs supplied the big plays and

energetic passion at the net.

By beating May-Treanor and Walsh for the third time this year --

the other victory came in Paris in July -- it’s safe to say that

Youngs and Wacholder have established a rivalry with the world’s top

female team.

“I think today we just put it all together,” Youngs said of

Sunday’s triumph. “Did we make a statement? I don’t know, but I do

know that we kind of are creating a rivalry here. I really do. We’re

going to push them.

“I can’t tell you how great it feels to win here in Huntington.

This is our own backyard, and it’s an amazing feeling to play so

well, before our family and friends who came out here to cheer us on.

This is a win I’ll cherish.”