Rock, Poppinga Try to Stop McPeak, Arce

Angela Rock’s strategy going into today’s Ocean Pacific U.S. Open semifinal beach volleyball match against top-seeded Holly McPeak and Lisa Arce sounds simple.

“We can’t give them a 10-0 lead,” Rock said. “They’ve been jumping out to a big lead against us lately, and that makes it kind of hard to make a charge.”

Rock and Karrie Poppinga, who are seeded fourth, moved into the 9 a.m. semifinal near the Huntington Beach pier by squeezing past Marla O’Hara and Ali Wood, 15-10.

The match was tied, 10-10, but Rock and Poppinga changed sides and took advantage of strong afternoon winds to serve four aces in their run.

“It definitely made a difference on the one side,” Rock said. “We’ve been lucky to be able to finish our matches on the better side.”

McPeak and Arce had no trouble advancing. The Manhattan Beach duo defeated Valinda Hilleary and Monique Oliver, 15-5, then posted a 15-8 quarterfinal victory over Krista Blomquist and Christine Schaefer.

McPeak and Arce have won five of the seven Evian Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. tournaments this season and eight of 11 since becoming partners shortly after last summer’s Olympics, in which McPeak finished fifth playing with Nancy Reno.

“Lisa has one of the best serves on the beach, and she has the potential to be one of the best blockers on the beach,” McPeak said.

In another quarterfinal match, third-seeded Barbra Fontana and Linda Hanley defeated sixth-seeded Linda Chisholm and Deb Richardson, 15-11.

Fontana and Hanley will play second-seeded Karolyn Kirby and Reno in the other semifinal.

Kirby and Reno, looking for their second consecutive WPVA victory, defeated Liz Mazakayan and Elaine Youngs, 15-4, in the third round, then got past 1996 Olympic bronze medalists Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst of Australia, 15-8, in the quarterfinals.

Today’s final is scheduled for 3 p.m.