LONG BEACH, CALIF. - Top-seeded Karolyn Kirby and Angela Rock captured their 18th Evian Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour title together here Sunday (July 21) by capturing the Long Beach Open on Belmont Shore.
With three Olympic teams missing the action, Kirby and Rock scored six-straight wins this weekend enroute to sharing the $9,400 first- place prize.
The tandems of Holly McPeak/Nancy Reno, Barbra Fontana Harris/Linda Hanley and Gail Castro/Deb Richardson missed the Long Beach due to their participation in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Kirby and Rock, who gave up only 35 points in the six matches, defeated second-seeded Lisa Arce and Patty Dodd 15-11 in the title match.
The Evian Tour's all-time event winner, Kirby captured her 58th domestic championship and 64th in her 10-season pro beach career. Rock has now won 21 Evian titles and 27 in her pro career.
Kirby and Rock advanced to the title match with a 15-6 win over eighth-seeded Marie Andersson and Pat Keller while Arce and Dodd downed fourth-seeded Karrie Poppinga and Christine Schaefer 15-4.
Arce and Dodd shared $7,000 for second while Poppinga and Schaefer split $5,000 for third-place after downing Andersson and Keller 15- 5. Andersson and Keller shared $3,400 for fourth.
Here is the final summary:
Long Beach Open
July 20-21, 1996 at Belmont Shore, Long Beach, Calif.
TOURNAMENT SUMMARY
TEAM (seed) W-L POINTS
MONEY
1st Karolyn Kirby\Angela Rock (1) 6-0 72 $9,400
2nd Lisa Arce\Patty Dodd (2) 5-1 64.8 $7,000
3rd Karrie Poppinga\Christine Schaefer (4) 5-2 57.6 $5,000
4th Marie Andersson\Pat Keller (8) 5-3 50.4 $3,400
5th Elaine Roque\Dennie Shupryt-Knoop (3) 3-2 43.2 $2,400
Cammy Ciarelli\Liz Masakayan (7) 4-2 43.2 $2,400
7th Janice Harrer\Gayle Stammer (5) 3-2 36 $1,600
Valinda Hilleary\Monique Oliver (11) 3-2 36 $1,600
9th Marla O'Hara\Ali Wood (6) 3-2 28.8 $1,100
Jackie Campbell\Lynda Johnson (10) 3-2 28.8 $1,100
Marsha Miller\Darina Staneva (16) 3-2 28.8 $1,100
Alissa Evans-Lund\Nancy Mason (12) 3-2 28.8 $1,100
13th Stephanie Nelson\Liz Pagano (17) 2-2 21.6 $ 700
Evelyn Conley\Erin Deiters (15) 2-2 21.6 $ 700
Alicia Chung\Shana Wilson (24) 2-2 21.6 $ 700
Julia Celotto\Veronica Sanchez (13) 2-2 21.6 $ 700
17th Michal Clingman\Beth Schuler (14) 1-2 14.4
Wendy Fletcher\Leanne Schuster (9) 1-2 14.4
Shannon Misek\Gina Pillitiere (28) 1-2 14.4
Mary Baily\Shaney Fink (20) 1-2 14.4
Lael Perlstrom-Fresenius\Jen Wrightson (19) 1-2 14.4
Julie James\Jeanette Kollasch (27) 1-2 14.4
Anna Franca\Rhonda Kottke (23) 1-2 14.4
Michelle Morse\Kristen Schritter (18) 1-2 14.4
25th Connie Gibbon\Kathy Ross (32) 0-2 7.2
Laurie Ruser\Wendy Whiting (25) 0-2 7.2
Jackie Auzias de Turenne\Barbara Belding (21) 0-2 7.2
Sharma Grant\Monica Holmes (29) 0-2 7.2
Elizabeth Chavez\Julie Sprague (30) 0-2 7.2
Stacy Kammes\Amy Peistrup-Matthews (22) 0-2 7.2
Nancy Brookhart\Desiree Leipham (26) 0-2 7.2
Vicki Bonino\Sandy Matthes (31) 0-2 7.2
Totals 62-62 777.6 $40,000
Qualifying Totals 6-6 3.6 $0
QUALIFYING
TEAM (seed) W-L POINTS
Q Elizabeth Chavez/Julie Sprague (32) 3-0 0
Q Vicki Bonino\Sandy Matthes (34) 2-1 0
Q Connie Gibbon\Kathy Ross (33) 1-2 0
33rd Samantha Meador\Lynda Street (31) 0-3 3.6
EL SEGUNDO, CALIF. - The Evian Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour returns to Long Beach this weekend (July 20-21) for the fourth- straight season as the event moves to a beach site after three years of transforming a "downtown" parking lot into sand courts.
The $40,000 Long Beach Open will be the 11th stop on the 1996 Evian Tour as the Women's Professional Volleyball Association enters the final stages of its 10th-season of operation.
The Long Beach Open, which has been moved to Belmont Shores after three seasons of competition on The Promenade in downtown Long Beach, will "showcase" the younger players on the Evian Tour as three teams will miss the event due to their participation in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno are the United States' No. 1 women's Olympic beach volleyball team after finishing atop the 1995-96 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship-Series standings by winning six of the 10 international events.
Barbra Fontana Harris and Linda Hanley qualified as the No. 2 United States Olympic tandem after winning the United States Women's Olympic Beach Volleyball Trials June 7 in Baltimore by defeating Elaine Roque and Shupryt-Knoop 16-14.
Gail Castro and Deb Richardson secured the third spot on the United States Olympic beach team by defeating Roque and Shupryt-Knoop 15- 13 June 9 for the third spot.
The top "youngsters" competing in Long Beach will be the tandems of Karrie Poppinga/Christine Schaefer and Krista Blomquist/Danalee Bragado along with Lynda Johnson, the Evian Tour's top first-year player, and Lisa Arce.
Poppinga and Schaefer are the sixth-ranked team on the Evian Tour while Blomquist and Bragado have posted fourth and fifth-place finishes in the last two events in Newport, R. I. (June 29-30) and Chicago (July 13-14).
Johnson, a four-time All-American from Portland State and former member of the United States' national team, leads the rookie point- standings (88) while earning $3,687.50.
Arce, the Evian Tour's top rookie in 1994 and most improved player in 1995, ranks behind McPeak, Reno, Fontana Harris and Hanley in the point standings (240) with $22,850 in earnings and five final four finishes in eight starts. Arce teamed with McPeak to win April's event in Puerto Rico.
Depending on Wednesday evening's (July 17) final entries, Roque and Shupryt-Knoop will be seeded among the top three team as the pair finished third last weekend in Chicago, including a 15-10 win over McPeak and Reno.
Veterans Janice Harrer and Gayle Stammer, who finish fourth in June's Olympic Trials and second at the Ocean City, Md. event (June 14-16), will also be one of the favored teams in Long Beach.
The Long Beach Open is a "modified" double-elimination event. Depending on the number of entries, a qualifying session is scheduled for the 1 p.m. (PDT) Friday (July 19) at Belmont Shores to determine the 32-team main draw.
Championship competition starts at 9 a.m. Saturday (July 20) and at 8 a.m. Sunday (July 21). Four teams will advance to the Olympic Crossing semi-finals the afternoon of July 21 with the tournament finale set for 3 p.m. The Evian Tour opened the season with five different winning tandems in the first 10 events. The 1996 campaign started indoor events in Fairfax, Va. and New York and outdoor stops in Deerfield Beach, Fla., Puerto Rico, Hermosa Beach, Calif., San Diego, Austin, Tex., Ocean City, Newport and Chicago.
Karolyn Kirby and Schaefer scored upset wins over McPeak and Reno (15-13) and Liz Masakayan and Angela Rock (15-4) to win the $21,000 first-place prize in the Fairfax, Va. indoor opener Feb. 3.
McPeak and Reno rebounded at the New York indoor event (Feb. 24) by capturing the record $31,500 first-place prize by downing Masakayan and Rock 15-13 in the finals.
With ABC Sports covering the outdoor opener in Deerfield Beach, McPeak and Reno posted six-straight wins to capture the first-place prize, including a 15-8 win over Masakayan and Rock in the Apr. 7 final.
Following two FIVB events in Brazil, the domestic competition resumed with McPeak and Lisa Arce defeating Rock and Patty Dodd 15- 10 to win the Coors Light Beach Volley '96 Apr. 28 in Puerto Rico.
Fontana Harris and Hanley captured the third outdoor event by scoring two upset wins in the Olympic Crossing rounds at the Evian Hermosa Beach Open, including a 12-11 decision over Kirby and Reno in the May 5 ABC televised finale.
Kirby and Reno avenged the Hermosa setback by capturing the San Diego Open (May 19) with a 6-0 match mark, including a 15-9 win over Fontana Harris and Hanley in the championship match.
With McPeak and Reno competing together in the Evian Austin Open (May 31-June 2), the pair posted six straight wins enroute to their 11th domestic title together. Arce and Kirby lost the Texas finale to McPeak and Reno 15-7.
Fontana Harris and Hanley returned to the winner's circle with back-to-back titles in Ocean City and Newport while McPeak and Reno "tuned" up for the Olympics with a 15-11 championship win over Fontana Harris and Hanley in Chicago.
At the $100,000 Evian U. S. Open in Ocean City, Fontana Harris and Hanley downed eighth-seeded Harrer and Stammer 15-11 in the finals. In a marathon finale in Newport, Fontana Harris and Hanley outlasted Kirby and Rock 22-20. The championship match was the highest-scoring title match in Evian Tour history along with tying the mark as the highest overall match in terms of total points.
Led by Kirby, six players are competing for the 10th-season on the Evian Tour. Kirby is the winningest player with 57 career titles enroute to 542 career match wins and $396,724.13 in earnings. Other 10-season veterans are Jackie Campbell, Castro (three event titles, $188,231.13), Harrer (12 titles, $181,132.75), Roque (three titles, $215,317.21) and Stammer (one title).
Here are past results from the Long Beach Open: May 27-28, 1989 (Evian Tour event No. 21) - 1, Patty Dodd/Jackie Silva; 2, Nina Matthies/Elaine Roque; 3, Gail Castro/Lori Forsythe; 4, Linda Hanley/Julie Thornton. Aug. 7-8, 1993 (No. 95) - 1, Karolyn Kirby/Liz Masakayan; 2, Barbra Fontana Harris/Forsythe; 3, Castro/Roque; 4, Lori Biller/Alison Johnson. July 29-31, 1994 (No. 109) - 1, Kirby/Masakayan; 2, Fontana Harris/Forsythe; 3, Monique Oliver/Gayle Stammer; 4, Deb Richardson/Dennie Shupryt-Knoop. Aug. 11-13, 1995 (No. 124) - 1, Holly McPeak/Nancy Reno; 2, Lisa Arce/Angela Rock; 3 (tie), Kirby/Hanley and Castro/Forsythe.
1996 Results/Schedule/Money Leaders
Feb. 3 at Fairfax, Va. (indoors) . . . . . . .Kirby/Schaefer winners Feb. 24 at New York (indoors). . . . . . . . . . McPeak/Reno winners Apr. 5-7 at Deerfield Beach, Fla.. . . . . . . . McPeak/Reno winners Apr. 27-28 at Carolina, Puerto Rico. . . . . . . Arce/McPeak winners May 3-5 at Hermosa Beach, Calif. . . . Fontana Harris/Hanley winners May 18-19 at San Diego, Calif. . . . . . . . . . .Kirby/Reno winners May 31-June 2 at Austin, Tex.. . . . . . . . . . McPeak/Reno winners June 14-16 at Ocean City, Md.. . . . . Fontana Harris/Hanley winners June 29-30 at Newport, R. I. . . . . . Fontana Harris/Hanley winners July 13-14 at Chicago, Ill.. . . . . . . . . . . McPeak/Reno winners July 20-21 at Long Beach, Calif.Here are the money leaders after the 10 Evian Tour events (1996 event titles):
1 Holly McPeak (5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $56,250.00 2 Nancy Reno (5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56,200.00 T 3 Barbra Fontana Harris (3) . . . . . . . . . . . .46,875.00 T 3 Linda Hanley (3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46,875.00 5 Karolyn Kirby (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39,175.00 6 Angela Rock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35,500.00 7 Christine Schaefer (1). . . . . . . . . . . . . .27,987.50 8 Liz Masakayan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23,250.00 9 Lisa Arce (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22,850.00 10 Patty Dodd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16,850.00 T 11 Elaine Roque. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15,375.50 T 11 Dennie Shupryt-Knoop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15,375.50 T 13 Janice Harrer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13,237.50 T 13 Gayle Stammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13,237.50 15 Karrie Poppinga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10,800.00
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