More Disappointments for Kirby and Reno

HUNTINGTON BEACH — A couple of the most esteemed players on the beach were spitting sand all day, a woman whose mother recently died won the biggest game of her career, and a mom and a lawyer again proved to be among the toughest teams Saturday in the Evian Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. National Championships.

Karolyn Kirby and Nancy Reno lost two matches and will not advance to today’s final four at Huntington Beach, which is significant considering one of them has won the prestigious event the past four years. Kirby and Reno won it together in 1992 before Kirby won it with Liz Masakayan in 1993 and ’94. Reno won it last year with Holly McPeak.

Kirby and Reno, seeded second, lost to third-seeded McPeak and Lisa Arce, 15-7, in the championship bracket semifinals, then lost to ninth-seeded Krista Blomquist and Danalee Bragado, 15-7, in the contender’s bracket semifinals.

The loss to McPeak and Arce was especially painful for Reno because she and McPeak recently split after winning 19 tournaments together since April, 1995. Their last tournament together was the Olympics, where they placed fifth.

“It’s a season of disappointment for both of us,” said Kirby, who was disappointed at the Olympic Trials in June with Arce. “One of our commitments together is that we’re going to work through this. That’s what this partnership is all about. There has been too much hurt, too much pain.”

For Reno and Kirby, emotional pain has been compounded by the physical pain of shoulder injuries.

“Has anyone noticed that we don’t hit?” Reno said.

Blomquist and Bragado did.

“I know both of them can play a lot better. We had a little luck on our side,” Bragado said.

For Blomquist, the victory came three weeks after her mother, Daryl, died after a freak swimming accident near their home in Branford, Conn. Blomquist turned to volleyball to help her cope, and after her victory, she smiled.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” she said, slapping Bragado on the knee.

Blomquist and Bragado play top-seeded Barbra Fontana Harris, a lawyer, and Linda Hanley, a 36-year-old mother of two, in the semifinals at 9 a.m. today.

Fontana Harris and Hanley defeated Patty Dodd and Christine Schaefer, 15-10, in the championship bracket semifinals to advance.

Before that game, Fontana Harris and Hanley had not given up more than six points in any of their three games in the tournament. Both players clearly are enjoying themselves.

“I’m [near] home. I’m going to have dinner with my husband [1992 U.S. Olympic water polo player Charles Harris] tonight. I’m in the winners’ bracket. You can’t get much better than that,” said Fontana Harris, who lives in Laguna Beach.

After losing to Fontana Harris and Hanley, Dodd and Schaefer defeated Gail Castro and Gayle Stammer, 15-13, in the other contender’s bracket semifinal to advance. They will play McPeak and Arce at 10 a.m.

McPeak, selected the tour’s most valuable player last season, and Arce, selected the most improved player last season, have formed a formidable pair--in five tournaments together this season, they are 25-3 including two third-place finishes and victories at Puerto Rico in April and at New York last weekend.

“We’ve played together forever,” said McPeak, who played with Arce at Manhattan Beach Mira Costa High before she went to UCLA and Arce went to Cal. “When you have the same desire and you know you’ll die for your partner, it helps.”

The final will be at noon.