Pro beach volleyball
royalty back in Hawaii

The sport’s best are here to
determine its king and queen

The royals of the beach are in town, 32 of the best the Association of Volleyball Professionals has to offer.

This week's $150,000 Best on the Beach -- the AVP's first stop at Queen's Beach since 1992 -- gives 16 men and 16 women the chance to cap a long sand season with the ultimate bragging rights. Players are seeded and paired with different partners for each match, with points going toward the titles of king and queen of the beach.

Best of the Beach Where: Queen's Beach When: Today & tomorrow, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (finals at about 1:30 p.m.) TV: KHNL (Ch. 8) delayed, 2 p.m. Sunday Admission: Free. Reserved seating: $10-$75. Information: www.avp.com

"It's a fun format," said Kerri Walsh, who, with partner Misty May, won the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Athens. "You see how well you adapt playing with other players, see what their needs are.

"Communication is big on the beach. So much of it is about rhythm, adjusting to what you see going on on the other side of the court and doing it quickly. Every touch (on the ball) needs to be good. Unlike the indoor game, you can't hide the weak players on the beach."

Walsh has proven equally strong on the sand as on the court. She was a four-time All-American at Stanford, and the MVP of the national championship match as a freshman in 1996 when the Cardinal swept Hawaii.

Her college career ended in Honolulu in 1999 when Stanford was stomped by Penn State 15-2, 15-10, 15-7 in 80 minutes at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"My last experience here was very bad as far as volleyball goes," said Walsh, whose Cardinal team was 4-0 against the Rainbow Wahine in her four seasons. "But the one thing I remember about Hawaii is how much they love volleyball. When we saw (Hawaii) was on the schedule this year, we were all jumping up and down."

Walsh is top-seeded among the women, followed by her former partner Holly McPeak, Elaine Youngs and May. Stanford and Punahou alumnus Mike Lambert is seeded first on the men's side, one of four players with Hawaii ties in the field.

Also competing are ex-UH players Sean Scott (No. 7) and Jason Ring (12). UCLA and Punahou standout Kevin Wong, winner of the last King of the Beach event in 2001, is No. 15.

"When I saw Hawaii was on the schedule, all I could think was, 'It's about time,'" Ring said. "They finally could justify shipping all the stuff out here and I think we'll draw a huge crowd.

"This is the first time they've done this format since I've been a pro and it's going to be a blast."

Today's 2 p.m. match is the only one scheduled where both players are from Hawaii: Scott and Wong take on No. 2 Adam Jewell and No. 10 Casey Jennings. Should Lambert and Wong end up as a team, it would be the first time the two are playing together since high school.

"I'm excited to play with a bunch of different guys," Scott said. "It's been a long year, with all the Olympic qualifiers. It's nice to have a break and see how you do."

Missing out on the tournament is former UCLA and Punahou standout Stein Metzger. Despite a fifth-place finish at the Olympics, he and partner Dax Holdren didn't have enough AVP Nissan Series points to qualify for this event.

"It shows you the amount of talent on tour when we don't have enough points to play here," said Metzger, who remembers being a high school student and shagging balls during previous AVP stops in Hawaii. "I've been pushing for the AVP to come here for the past few years. It's rewarding to see it back here."