BEACH VOLLEYBALL : Kiraly, Steffes at Home, Seeking 8 in a Row

Cocky or just confident?

Kent Steffes faces that question every day.

“If someone comes up to you and asks, ‘How good are you?’ and you say ‘I’m the best in the world,’ they say you’re cocky,” Steffes said. “But if you say, ‘Oh, I’m all right,’ then they say you’re stuck up.

“You can’t win.”

Arguments, no. Volleyball games, yes.

Steffes, 24, is the top-ranked player on the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals-Miller Lite tour. Earlier this season, he become the youngest player to hold the top computer ranking, along with the top spot in points and earnings.

He has won 10 of the 19 tournaments he has played this year, earning more than $130,000. He and teammate Karch Kiraly have won seven in a row.

They will go for No. 8 this weekend in the $100,000 Manhattan Beach Open at the Manhattan Beach Pier.

Competition starts with a single-elimination qualifying tournament at 9 a.m. today. Sixteen teams will emerge from that and be added to the top 48 teams. Later Friday, the 64 pairs will begin a double-elimination tournament, culminating with the championship match at about 5 p.m. Sunday.

The Manhattan Beach Open is considered the most prestigious stop on the circuit, Steffes said. In its 33rd year, it is the oldest tournament on the tour.

But for Steffes, who, like many players, lives in the Los Angeles area, it’s also nice to be playing at home for the first time this season.

“I’m not a big hotel freak, and I hate flying on airplanes,” said Steffes, who lives in Pacific Palisades. “(This weekend) I can just roll out of bed and onto the court.”

Steffes’ hot streak, which includes championships in eight of the last nine tournaments, and a second-place finish in the other, coincided with his reunion with two-time Olympic gold medalist Kiraly.

They had played together in 1990 and won two tournaments in 10 weeks. But Kiraly, who told Sports Illustrated he was “impatient to win” then decided to go back to his former teammate, Brent Frohoff.

Kiraly rejoined him because Steffes is “two years older, a lot stronger, just a better player,” Steffes said.

“It’s been exciting. I guess you hit your peak maybe a couple of times in your lifetime. I’m playing the best volleyball I’ve ever played and so is Karch. When we go out and put it all together on the court, it’s an awesome feeling.”