Volleyball adds punch to holiday

Leonard Armato wants to begin the Memorial Day weekend with a bang.

Make that a spike.

Armato, commissioner of the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals, brings the Cuervo Gold Crown Huntington Beach Open to town this weekend.

The three-day event begins with Friday’s qualifier, followed by main-draw competition Saturday and Sunday.

The tentative schedule for the finals has the men playing at 2 p.m. Sunday, followed by the women at 3:30.

“Memorial Day weekend is the kickoff to summer, and we want nothing better than for Huntington Beach to be a rockin’ event,” Armato said. “Huntington Beach is a great setting for beach volleyball. Through the years, we’ve had tremendous fan support there. Huntington Beach is a hotbed for beach volleyball, that’s for sure.”

The first men’s Huntington Beach Open, held in 1975, was won by the team of Jim Menges and Greg Lee. The event returned to the pier in 1999 when Adam Johnson and Karch Kiraly claimed victory.

The first women’s Huntington Beach Open took place in 1989, and Patty Dodd and Jackie Silva won the title. Dodd’s teams captured the first three women’s opens, winning twice with Silva and once with Karolyn Kirby.

Fifteen years later, some of those competitors are still around.

Kiraly, the winningest player in beach volleyball history and men’s leader in Huntington Beach Open titles with three, teamed with Mike Lambert for an unbeaten run to the men’s title last year. Kiraly and Lambert defeated Larry Witt and Sean Rosenthal in the final.

The team of Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser will be out to win their third-straight men’s tournament of the 2006 tour. Rogers and Dalhausser are coming off wins at Santa Barbara and Tempe, Ariz., in the past three weeks.

In the women’s competition, Elaine Youngs and Rachel Wacholder, two athletes who grew up playing the sport at high schools in Orange County, will be looking to score a repeat of a stirring victory in last year’s women’s final.

Youngs and Wacholder swept Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh to win the women’s title. It was the first sweep suffered by May-Treanor and Walsh since July 2004.

Youngs and Wacholder defeated May-Treanor and Walsh four times last year and became the only team to defeat the world’s No. 1 team both domestically and internationally.

“I guess you could say it’s the closest thing to a rivalry in women’s volleyball,” said Wacholder, who played high-school ball at Laguna Beach.

Wacholder said that she and Youngs started the 2006 tour slowly, earning one second-place finish and a pair of third-place finishes in the first three events of the year, which began on March 31 with the Fort Lauderdale Open.

May-Treanor and Walsh have won all three women’s opens in 2006, and with a victory last week in Santa Barbara, the duo became the first women’s team in beach volleyball history to win a 50th career team title.

“Elaine and I really are looking forward to playing in Huntington,” Wacholder said. “We played our best tournament there last year, and we’ve had our eye on Huntington Beach on this year’s schedule.

“It’s a tournament that’s close to home for both of us, and my entire family will be out there, rooting us on. It’s a special place to play.”

While Kiraly holds the men’s record for most Huntington Beach Open titles, Holly McPeak of Manhattan Beach is the women’s all-time leader with four.

The 37-year-old, who had both feet operated on during the off-season, will be partnered with Nicole Branagh, the AVP’s women’s rookie of the year in 2005.

Like Youngs and Wacholder, McPeak and Branagh have gotten off to a slow start, with seventh their highest finish.

“We’ll be ready for Huntington,” McPeak said. “It’s a fun spot to play. I love it there. There are so many knowledgeable volleyball fans there, and anytime you play in front of a crowd like that it makes it that much more special.”

Armato said bleachers for the event can hold 5,000, with a standing-room-only crowd destined for center court Sunday. PHOTOS BY MARK DUSTIN / COASTLINE PILOThbi.25-avp-wacholder-1-CPhotoInfo3J1R8HKD20060525izqrmvncPHOTOS BY MARK DUSTIN / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Rachel Wacholder, left, hits by the block of Jennifer Fopma, right, in last year’s AVP Huntington Beach Open. hbi.25-avp-kiraly-CPhotoInfo3J1R8HNF20060525izqrm5nchbi.25-avp-yng_wach-BPhotoInfo3J1R8L7J20060525ile90dnchbi.25-avp-lambert-2-BPhotoInfo3J1R8RR520060525il6p54ncPHOTOS BY MARK DUSTIN / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Above, Mike Lambert dives to dig a ball in last year’s semifinal. The Costa Mesa resident earned his sixth AVP title. Below, Rachel Wacholder, left, and Elaine Youngs celebrate their victory in the women’s final of the 2005 AVP Huntington Beach Open.