AVP HUNTINGTON BEACH OPEN: KIRALY EXTENDS RECORD AS OLDEST BEACH CHAMP.Byline: Don Patterson Special to the Daily News HUNTINGTON BEACH Huntington Beach, city (1990 pop. 181,519), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific coast, across from Santa Catalina Island, in an oil-producing area; inc. 1909. It manufactures aerospace vehicles, aircraft parts, optical instruments, and heat transfer equipment. - Forget that Karch Kiraly Charles Frederick Kiraly, better known as Karch Kiraly (born November 3, 1960 in Jackson, Michigan), is an American volleyball player who is the only person to have won Olympic gold medals in both the indoor and beach versions of the sport. won his 144th tournament Sunday in the AVP AVP arginine vasopressin. Huntington Beach Open. Forget that he is 42. Forget that his first tournament victory came in 1979. The real story was how often he slapped the side of his head in disgust and ripped off his pink cap and screamed and yelled. As one player pointed out, there were times when you could see the veins in his ears. ``It was beautiful,'' said TV commentator Mike Dodd Michael ("Mike") Dodd (born August 20, 1957 in Manhattan Beach, California) is a well-known retired professional beach volleyball player from the United States that attended San Diego State University. , who retired in 1997 with 74 career victories. ``It was the most entertaining weekend of Karch Kiraly ever.'' That's saying a lot considering Kiraly, a four-time All-American at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , is the winningest player in beach volleyball For the ball used in this sport, see . Beach volleyball is an Olympic team sport played on sand. Two teams, positioned on either side of a net which divides a rectangular court, hit a volleyball, usually using the hands or arms. history and has three Olympic gold medals, two on the U.S. indoor team from 1984 and 1988 and another on the beach in 1996 with Kent Steffes. But Kiraly said his frustration reached a boiling point after he and partner Brent Doble gave away too many good opportunities last weekend at the Manhattan Beach Open and, for the sixth time this season, failed to reach a championship match. This weekend in Huntington, he decided to rattle some eardrums - especially his partner's - and he and Doble won six consecutive matches and closed out the tournament title with a 21-16, 21-16 victory over Todd Rogers and Sean Scott. ``I felt a rising frustration because I don't want to fritter away to diminish; to pare off; to reduce to nothing by taking away a little at a time; also, to waste piecemeal; as, to fritter away time, strength, credit, etc. s> See also: Fritter these opportunities,'' Kiraly said. ``I feel like I'm playing at a great level right now, and I don't expect to be at this level for years and years, and I want to take advantage of it.'' With the exception of 1987, when Kiraly didn't play on the beach because he was training with the U.S. indoor team for the Seoul Olympics, he has won a tournament every year since 1979. ``Karch has broken every mold in volleyball, and now he's breaking molds in sports in general because of his age,'' said Rogers, who has eight career victories. ``You've got to think that he was gifted by God with the perfect volleyball attributes.'' |
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