AVP: THERE'S NOTHING LIKE MANHATTAN PLAYERS SET FOR PREMIER TOURNAMENT.Byline: ROMAN VEYTSMAN Special to the Daily News Known as the home of beach volleyball Beach volleyball is played outdoors on a sand court with two players instead of six. The court dimensions, the net and its position, and the scoring are similar to that of the traditional six-player game. Beach volleyball began in the 1920s in California and held its first men's tournament in 1947. The professional game developed in the 1970s, world championships were first held in 1987 (men) and 1993 (women), and the sport achieved Olympic status in 1996., Manhattan Beach Manhattan Beach, city (1990 pop. 32,063), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1912. It is a residential and beach community with an oil refinery and nearby factories that produce transportation and electrical equipment, computers, and pottery. Manhattan State Beach is there. will host the most storied tournament and the premier event on the AVP AVP - Avoirdupois (weight) AVP - Adaptive Video Process/ing/or AVP - Adaptive Voltage Positioning AVP - Administración de Vivienda Pública (public housing administrator, San Juan) AVP - Advanced Video Processor AvP - Alien Vs. Predator (game) AVP - Alien(s) Versus Predator (comic books and video games) AVP - Alternative to Violence Project AVP - Anti-Violence Project AVP - Anti-Virus Pro (Panda) AVP - Antiviral Protein tour, the Manhattan Beach Open, which starts today. The aura of Manhattan is beach volleyball's equivalent to a baseball player finally getting his shot at Yankee Stadium, and winners are remembered in engravings on the Manhattan Beach Pier. ``When I first started beach volleyball, that's all everyone talked about,'' said Mike Lambert who was born in Hawaii and won the Open in 2004 with Karch Kiraly. Celebrating a half-century of beach volleyball on the men's side wouldn't be complete without beach volleyball legend Kiraly, who has missed the past four AVP tournaments with a knee injury. The winningest player at Manhattan Beach, the 45-year-old Kiraly will be back on the sand in an attempt to win his 11th Manhattan Beach crown, playing this time alongside partner Larry Witt. ``He's a living legend,'' Lambert said of Kiraly. ``It's amazing that he's still playing.'' Entering his 18th tournament in Manhattan, Kiraly's career is coming to a close, but despite his injuries, Kiraly's passion for Manhattan Beach wouldn't let him sit this one out. ``You could win every other tournament and they would call you champion, but if you don't win at Manhattan, it's a big hole in your resume,'' he said recently, according to Lambert. ``Everyone knows the end is near with Karch here, and people can come out and see the God of our sport come out and play once again,'' Lambert said. Lambert and his partner, Stein Metzger, are the No.1-seeded team and are coming off three wins in the past five Tour tournaments. The duo hasn't fallen short of the semifinals in any AVP tournament this season. Their biggest competition will come from No. 2 seed Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, who lead the tour with five tournament victories. On the women's side, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh have had just one obstacle in their path since 2004. That obstacle, the tandem of Rachel Wacholder and Elaine Youngs, has broken up, as the two decided to part ways and switch partners due to personality and on-court differences. Wacholder and Youngs were the only team to win an AVP tournament aside from Treanor and Walsh since July 2004. While the change was shocking because it came before the biggest tournament of the year, maybe the importance of Manhattan Beach is enough to cause a stir. After all, ``the heart of volleyball is Manhattan,'' Lambert said. roman.veytsman@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 |
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