When Sand Dollars Are at Stake, Anything Goes
By MIKE BRESNAHAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER
May 25, 2002
Breaking up isn't all that hard to do if you're a beach volleyball player.It usually takes a simple phone call: Partner A gets partner B on the line and recommends they go their separate ways because of injury or ineffectiveness. Nothing personal, of course. Just business.The breakups between teammates, however, seemed to hit an all-time high during the most recent off-season of the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals tour. There are few intact impact teams returning as the AVP kicks off its seven-stop tour with the main draw of the Huntington Beach Open today and Sunday.The biggest surprise was the split between longtime partners Dax Holdren and Todd Rogers, who won six tournaments the last two years but broke up when Holdren agreed to play with Sydney Olympic gold medalist Eric Fonoimoana."[Rogers and I] had been playing since I was a junior in high school and professionally about 12 years," Holdren said. "We just wanted to try something different. We hadn't been showing a lot of energy."Rogers ultimately joined Sean Scott. The changes didn't stop there. Dain Blanton, Fonoimoana's Olympic teammate, is playing with Carl Henkel. Lee LeGrande will team with former U.S. Olympic indoor player Mike Lambert.
Only two top teams remain intact from last season: Stein Metzger and Kevin Wong, and Mike Whitmarsh with Canyon Ceman. Metzger and Wong won the final two tournaments last season at Chicago and Manhattan Beach.
The women's field is similarly shuffled, with top players Holly McPeak and Elaine Youngs playing together for the first time.
McPeak, the top U.S. player in career earnings ($805,000), had played primarily with Lisa Arce and Misty May since 1996, but joined Youngs after receiving a phone call from her last month. Youngs won four tournaments with Barbra Fontana last season but opted out of the partnership after Fontana was slow to recover from a back injury. "It was a business decision," Youngs said. "Barbara and I had a good year last year, but we weren't able to train because of her back. I worried about her being healthy."McPeak and Youngs are the top-seeded team at Huntington Beach. On Friday, eight men's teams advanced to today's main draw, including former UCLA standout Brandon Taliaferro and Andy Witt. Four women's teams advanced.