VOLLEYBALL SEAL BEACH OPEN : Powers, Dodd Win; Heat Sinks Lewis, Whitmarsh

Brian Lewis and Mike Whitmarsh began Sunday by knocking Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes out of the $100,000 Seal Beach Open, ending their winning streak at 14 tournaments.

But the day ended with a dehydrated Whitmarsh taking fluids intravenously in a nearby medical van and Lewis apologizing to the fans for their 15-5 loss to Mike Dodd and Pat Powers in the championship match.

“Sorry about the finals,” Corona del Mar’s Lewis told the crowd. “You were ready to go off, and we didn’t give you anything to go off about.”

Powers and Dodd, seeded fifth, needed only 30 minutes to beat third-seeded Lewis and Whitmarsh in the double-elimination tournament final, played before an estimated 12,000 at the Seal Beach Pier.

Powers and Dodd earned $10,000 each for the victory. Lewis and Whitmarsh won $6,000 each.

“I had absolutely nothing left for the finals,” said Whitmarsh, a former NBA player with the Minnesota Timberwolves. “I knew Dodd and Powers were coming at me right from the start.”

Said Dodd: “It was sad. They had such a tough match earlier, we knew he was cooked.”

Whitmarsh and Lewis played three losers’ bracket matches in the 90-degree temperatures, including overtime victories over Kiraly and Steffes in the losers’ bracket quarterfinal (15-14) and over Brent Frohoff and Ricci Luyties (12-11) in the semifinals.

In the losers’ bracket final, Whitmarsh and Lewis beat Tim Hovland and Adam Johnson, 12-10, then had about an hour break before the final.

It was the third time this season that Whitmarsh has become ill at a tournament. He said doctors have yet to diagnose the problem, but said he feels light-headed and has muscle spasms during and after some of his matches. He had intravenous fluids three times Sunday.

“It was just the heat,” said Whitmarsh, 6 feet 7 and 210 pounds.

“I never had a problem with it when I played basketball, and you’re expending a lot more energy there than you do out here.”