VOLLEYBALL WOMEN AT MANHATTAN BEACH : Title Goes to Kirby-Reno With 16-14 Final

For the last two years, Karolyn Kirby has been ranked No. 1 in the Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn., but failed to win a grand slam pro beach volleyball tournament during that time. On Sunday she earned her first such title by winning the $80,000 Coors Light World Championships in Manhattan Beach with partner Nancy Reno.

Second-seeded Kirby and Reno defeated third-seeded Jackie Silva and Angela Rock, 16-14, in a lengthy final on center court.

“Yeah, I guess it does take a big monkey off my back,” Kirby said. “But I really wasn’t thinking about it. We just wanted to try to play well together.”

Kirby said facing her former longtime partner, Rock, was difficult. Kirby and Rock teamed up for a WPVA record 12 tournament victories last year and five others this year. The team split after placing ninth in Cape Cod, Mass., on June 28.

“It was very hard to play against her because I want her to do well,” said Kirby, who lives and trains in San Diego. “She’s a great player and she deserves to win. I really tried not to think about it.”

And it didn’t affect Kirby’s performance. She opened the match by serving for three consecutive points and used powerful hitting to attack the net and earn crucial sideouts.

Silva and Rock, in only their third event together, came back with a 4-3 lead when Silva smacked the ball down the middle on her own service return.

Silva-Rock broke away for a 10-7 edge. But Kirby and Reno, a former Stanford University All-American and U.S. national team member, tied the score at 11 and took a 14-11 lead before Reno and Kirby rallied.

Silva-Rock held off five match points until Reno served an ace to Rock for the game.

“We had them, 14-11, and should have finished the game,” Silva said. “But we didn’t. It’s tough against that team because they’re so good. We’re good. I don’t think we played bad at any time.”

Kirby and Reno split $18,400 and Silva and Rock divided $13,600. Patty Dodd and Elaine Roque earned $9,600 for finishing third.

Top-seeded Linda Carrillo and Liz Masakayan placed fifth. Carrillo-Masakayan lost, 15-12, to Roque-Dodd in the semifinals of the winners’ bracket then fell, 15-9, to 10th-seeded Dennie Knoop and Ali Johnson in the losers’ bracket later in the day.

“We just had a bad day,” Carrillo said. “We weren’t moving our feet that quickly. We just weren’t on our game.”

Carrillo and Masakayan ended the season with five tournament victories, including one grand slam, the Las Vegas Shootout. Kirby finished with nine tournament titles and a record $74,987.