LAS VEGAS The AVP King and Queen of the Beach, the 2000 season-finale
pro beach volleyball tournament at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, was
concluding last October on the sand courts behind player Elaine
Youngs, who had just lost and wasn't feeling much like royalty.

She had come off the sand, her 6-foot, lean 145-pound body aching and
chafed by sand and sun because she had finished leaping, lunging,
diving and pounding for nothing.

Moreover, Youngs and her long-time playing partner, Liz Masakayan,
decided they were going separate ways. So without a partner, without
any sponsors except Oakley with money going out for a personal
trainer, for the gym, for swimsuits and shorts and for SPF 30
sunscreen, Youngs wasn't sure what was going to happen to her career.

"Almost everything is up in the air," said Youngs, a 1985-1987
All-America volleyball player at El Toro High and a four-time
All-American outside hitter who helped UCLA to a 1991 NCAA title. "I
don't know what I'll be doing this time next year."

This weekend, Youngs, 31, returns to Las Vegas for the King and Queen
of the Beach, now in the best shape of her life, playing the best
volleyball of her career and in the best position to take the throne
that has eluded her for the past two years.

"There have been so many surprises in the last year," said Youngs,
leading the AVP money list with partner Barbra Fontana this season. "I
never thought about quitting volleyball, but I thought about not
traveling internationally."

After last year's Las Vegas tournament, Youngs took two months off
volleyball to think, to consider and to decide on her next volleyball
attack.

Then Youngs, who had won nine titles and $394,000 in prize money in 40
tournaments with long-time partner Masakayan, went searching for new
partner, a player who could complement her defensive strengths.

She called Long Beach State star Misty May, a Newport Harbor High
graduate, "but that didn't work out," said Youngs by phone from
Brisbane, Australia, where she is competing in the Goodwill Games.

Then, in January, Youngs, who split time between homes in Del Mar and
Durango, Colo., called Fontana, 36, who had partnered most recently
with Lisa Arce and Linda Hanley. Soon, Youngs and Fontana, of
Manhattan Beach, began training with a coach.

Youngs shifted position, playing the right side rather than the left.
Through practice, they learned where to expect each other on the sand.

Together, they won the 2001 domestic opener in Clearwater Beach, Fla.,
and upset 2000 Olympic golf medalist Natalie Cooki and Kerri Pottharst
to capture an international title in Italy. By July, Youngs and
Fontana had won three titles, $152,850 and had earned more money this
season than any other U.S. duo - male or female.

Last month, Youngs and Fontana beat the team of Holly McPeak and Lisa
Arce, 21-17, 21-19, to take the title at Manhattan Beach Open.

"The Elaine I saw (at Manhattan Beach) looked more polished, more
physical and completely in sync and smooth with her partner," said
Andy Banachowski, Youngs' coach at UCLA, where she played volleyball
and basketball. "She's at the top of her game."

Monday, Youngs and Fontana reached the Goodwill Games semifinals and
today are traveling home to prepare for the Queen of the Beach.

"I didn't know how it was going to work out, but it did," Youngs said.
"But amazingly, it did."