Fontana shooting to keep crown

Steve Addy

Thursday, Sept. 6, 2001 | 10:15 a.m.

WHAT: AVP King & Queen of the Beach volleyball tournament

WHERE: Hard Rock hotel-casino parking lot, Paradise Road; qualifying matches today at Sunset Park

WHEN: Today-Sunday, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

FORMAT: In men's and women's divisions, eight players compete in round-robin matches, playing with different partners in each match. Points awarded for each victory.

PURSE: $75,000 men, $75,000 women

TICKETS: Qualifying free; $5 Friday, $10 Saturday, $15 Sunday

Beach volleyball star Barbra Fontana arrives in Las Vegas today. She hopes to leave her jet lag somewhere over California.

As the defending "Queen" of the AVP King & Queen of the Beach tournament this weekend at the Hard Rock hotel-casino, Fontana is hoping to avoid any lingering fatigue after having returned Wednesday from the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia.

Fontana and partner Elaine Youngs are ranked No. 2 in the world, but were forced to settle for the Goodwill bronze medal after a semifinal loss to Brazil's top twosome.

Five other Goodwill Games competitors will be here, including men's bronze medalists Kevin Wong and Stein Metzger, so a large portion of the 16-player field might be battling post-Australian weariness.

Fontana spent a week in Brisbane, arrived in Manhattan Beach on Wednesday after a 15-hour flight, enjoyed a quick massage, did laundry and began packing for Las Vegas. There was little time to recharge her batteries for three days of matches here.

"It's going to be difficult to compete, coming right off the plane," said Fontana, who will turn 36 on Saturday. "I'm looking forward to playing there -- it's a great tournament -- but it will depend on how I sleep these two nights. If I'm still caught up in time zones, it'll be tough."

If any player can overcome unexpected yawns, it's Fontana. She's had great success in the King & Queen event, the last stop on the Association of Volleyball Professionals tour. She won the tournament in 1994, then re-climbed the ladder from third in 1998 to second in 1999 to first last year.

She's also playing well this year. Youngs and Fontana, seeded No. 1 and 2 in this weekend's rotating-partner event, have won AVP tournaments at Clearwater Beach, Fla. (April 22) and Manhattan Beach (Aug. 26). They also won FIBV tournaments at Cagliari, Italy, and Marseille, France.

Fontana likes the King & Queen format, in which eight men and eight women compete in pool play for three days, with a different partner in each match.

"If individually you're playing good volleyball, that's a big factor, but the person next to you has to play well," Fontana said. "With changing partners, there is a luck element, which adds to the mystique."

Points are awarded for every win, and the point leaders will be the winners Sunday. A $150,000 purse is at stake, with $25,000 each to the King and Queen.

Qualifying matches today at Sunset Park will determine the final two men and women who'll compete Friday through Sunday at the beach stadium court in the Hard Rock parking lot on Paradise Road. Tons of sand (silica) have been shipped in for the two-feet-deep court.

2000 Olympic gold medalist Eric Fonoimoana of Hermosa Beach, Calif., will play in qualifying matches. 1996 silver medalist Mike Whitmarsh of San Diego is seeded fifth for pool play.