Pros Serve Up Action at Manhattan Beach Open

The prize money isn’t as big as other stops on the tour and it might be hard to find a parking spot, but there’s no doubt that the Manhattan Beach Open is the biggest event on the professional beach volleyball tour.

“Manhattan was a big tournament long before there was money involved in the game,” Sinjin Smith said.

Smith and partner Randy Stoklos--who have won twice as much prize money as any other team in history--have already captured seven tournaments this season, reaffirming their place as the most dominant team in the game.

Smith and Stoklos are the defending champions and they’ll be shooting for the biggest slice of the Manhattan Open’s $60,000 purse.

Other tournaments offer more money--purses have reached as high as $200,000 this season--but no tournament can offer more in atmosphere. Manhattan is one of only two tournaments to be continually played through the transition from amateur to professional beach volleyball.

To players and fans, Manhattan Beach is the Wimbledon--or the Wrigley Field--of beach volleyball.

“It’s amazing to play there--just the whole aura of the place,” said veteran pro Tim Hovland. “You’re playing and you look out and see the pier lurking in the background.”

Hovland and long-time partner Mike Dodd, both South Bay residents, will be shooting for their sixth Manhattan Open title when the action starts today at 9 a.m. Only six people have ever won five Manhattan Opens; no one has won six. Hovland and Dodd lost to Smith and Stoklos last year.

More than 50,000 spectators are expected for this weekend’s event.

“Not only are there a lot of fans, they’re knowledgeable fans,” Hovland said. “They live and breathe volleyball.”

The Manhattan Beach Open, sponsored by the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals and the city of Manhattan Beach, is the largest venue for beach volleyball in the world. Over a hundred teams will compete on 14 courts for the title in the double-elimination tourney.

Dodd will be coming off a bout with the flu, which forced him to miss the Cape Cod Open in Massachusetts, the last stop on the tour.

“We’d like to win this one,” Hovland said. “It’s like winning on our home turf.”

Hovland teamed with Hermosa Beach’s Scott Ayakatubby and finished second to Karch Kiraly and Brent Frohoff at Massachusetts.

Kiraly and Frohoff haven’t finished lower than second since teaming together for the Venice Open in May.

Smith and Stoklos have been nearly unstoppable. Between the two, Smith and Stoklos have won more than $250,000.

“I’d like to win every event we play in,” Smith said. “But there’s so many good players that it’s really tough to dominate nowadays.”

Hermosa Beach pro Jon Stevenson, the AVP’s president, is expected to miss this weekend’s event. He has been battling a throat infection and the flu and has been advised by his doctor not to play.