Monday, August 10, 1998
By George F. Lee Star-Bulletin
Above: Riggers Classic women's champs Kari Poppinga,
left, and Lia Young celebrate.
No day at
the beach
LeGrande-Williams and
By Cindy Luis
Poppinga-Young battle
to win beach volleyball titles
Star-BulletinA gorgeous sunset off Waikiki provided the backdrop for the men's final in yesterday's 11th Riggers Beach Volleyball Classic. It also might have marked the dawn of a budding pro contingent that will soon make its way from Hawaii to the mainland beach circuit.
Punahou School product Lee LeGrande is already competing on the Association of Volleyball Professionals Tour. He hopes that more island players will join him, beginning with his Riggers partner, Alika Williams.
The team knocked off the favored duo of tour partners Stein Metzger and Anginio Bacil, 15-13, in the championship semifinals. LeGrande and Williams waited most of the afternoon for Erik Pichel and Masui Allen to emerge out of the consolation bracket. The rest proved valuable as LeGrande and Williams held on for a 15-11 win at Queen's Beach.
"It's a real advantage to not have to come through the consolation bracket," said Williams, who won this event last year with Stevie Li. "While we're sitting it out in the shade, they have to be out in the hot sun.
"I don't think we did anything real spectacular. We were just consistent. They had started to come back when there was one play that changed the momentum back to our side."
That came after Pichel and Allen rallied from 13-8 to 13-11. Williams made a pancake dig that LeGrande turned into match point with a tap into the deep far court. One play later, Pichel's tip went long to end it.
By George F. Lee Star-Bulletin
Alika Williams, left, gets a shot past Anginio Bacil.
Williams and Lee LeGrande won the men's championship.
"I'm thinking about the pro tour," Williams said. "We've got to get more local boys up there."He had to be encouraged after the victory over Metzger and Bacil. So do Pichel and Allen.
Allen's scorching serves -- he had four aces -- proved the difference in the consolation final. In a matchup of the two setters from the 1996 NCAA men's title match, Pichel (Hawaii) blocked Metzger (UCLA) for the final point.
"I've really seen a lot of improvement in our local beach players," Metzger said. "These young guys are ready to take it to the next level. I'm trying to get Erik, Masui and Alika to come up for the tour. There is so much talent here.
"We didn't play badly today. The other teams just played really, really well. I guess you'd call it an upset because we're on the tour, but the guys we lost to are good."
Metzger, Bacil and LeGrande head off to this weekend's tour stop at Hermosa Beach, Calif. The women's champions, Karrie Poppinga and Lia Young, are headed to Del Mar, Calif.
"I'm looking forward to playing there," said Poppinga, who'll join up with her regular partner, Angela Rock. "But it was fun playing at home in front of great fans and in this kind of weather."
Poppinga and Young pulled away from Lisa Strand-Ma'a and Rachel Wacholder, 15-9, in the women's final. Both teams had to rally in their respective semifinal matches.
Poppinga-Young trailed Robyn Ah Mow and Rosa Torres-Hotz, 12-8, but went on a 7-1 run to earn the victory. Ma'a-Wacholder held off six game points before prevailing, 19-17, over Peka Malae-Tanya Fuamatu.
"It's a game of composure, of not getting rattled too easily," Poppinga said. "It's a matter of controlling the game. When we started to worry about our side and not what they were doing on the other side, we got control."
Strand-Ma'a wasn't too disappointed at her showing. As of Saturday, she had no plans to compete.
But Wacholder, LeGrande's girlfriend who is visiting from the mainland, wanted to play as a tune-up for this week's pro event. She asked Strand-Ma'a to be her partner.
"Second place isn't too bad for getting in a pretty good workout," Stand-Ma'a said.
Thirteen men's teams and 11 women's teams competed.
