Top volleyballers come to Las Vegas

James Yodice

Friday, March 14, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

The world's best outdoor volleyball players are in Las Vegas this weekend for the Miller Lite AVP King of the Beach Invitational at the Hard Hock Hotel.

The event, part of the Miller Lite AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour series and the first stop of 1997, started with qualifying matches this morning. Eight players, ranked 7-14 on the AVP computer, are competing for two spots, which are awarded to the top two point-getters.

Those two qualifiers advance to Saturday, where they'll join the six top-ranked players. The eight will be divided into two groups of four, and each contestant will play three matches with a different partner within his group.

The top two players in each group, those who have earned the most points, advance to Sunday's finals. Unlike every other event on the tour, the goal is to be the the best individual, not the best team.

The four finalists play round-robin matches at noon, 1:30 and 3 p.m. on Sunday; the man who has accumulated the most points at the end of the final match is the King of the Beach will receive a check for $40,000.

The total purse for the event is $250,000. The tourney is considered one of the five Miller Lite/AVP Tour "majors" and features the year's largest payout.

The tour is stopping in Las Vegas for the sixth consecutive year. Karch Kiraly, the defending champion, is a favorite this weekend, as is his normal partner, Kent Steffes. That duo won a dozen tournaments in 1996, including the Las Vegas stop.

Although Kiraly is the tour's dominant figure, Steffes was the 1996 Miller Lite/AVP Tour Most Valuable Player. Kiraly under went shoulder surgery in the off-season to repair a torn rotator cuff.

Kiraly is a four-time champion here. The only other man to have won in Las Vegas is Adam Johnson, a 32-year-old with 27 career victories. He usually teams with Jose Loiola, and they are the second-ranked team in the world. They had seven wins last year.

"In looking at the big picture, we definitely want to be the No. 1 team at the end of the year," said Johnson, a three-time, first-team All-American at Southern California from 1985-87.

Loiola, voted the tour's best offensive player last year, was the runner-up to Kiraly in the 1996 King tourney.

Matches on Saturday begin at 10 a.m. Ticket prices range from $14-$35. The ticket prices for today's session, which ends at 5 p.m., are $10-$25.

In addition to volleyball, the tournament is hosting a blackjack tournament tonight from 8-9:30. Entry fee is $100. On Saturday night, a dinner party is scheduled from 7:30-11:30 at The Joint. Tickets are on sale through the Hard Rock box office. General admission tickets are $15, VIP dinner tickets are $50 today and Saturday afternoon and $75 at the door.