Lambert out of opener

As the Assn. of Professionals Volleyball tour kicks off in Miami this weekend, it also marks the start of Olympic Watch 2008 for beach volleyball fans.

Two men’s teams angling for coveted spots on the U.S. Olympic beach volleyball team include Costa Mesa residents.

The top two men’s and women’s teams will compete at the Beijing Olympics in August.

Jake Gibb of Costa Mesa and his partner, Sean Rosenthal, are second in the points qualifying race, while Mike Lambert, also of Costa Mesa, and Stein Metzger are trailing in third.

2007 World Champions and AVP Crocs Cup champions Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser lead.

The battle to represent the U.S. has hardly been decided, so this season is likely to resemble last year’s, with AVP athletes making arduous overseas trips as they compete both domestically and abroad.

A knee injury is keeping Lambert confined to Costa Mesa this weekend. He and Metzger won’t make their season debut until the Huntington Beach Open, which starts May 1.

Lambert is sidelined as he rehabilitates a meniscus tear in his right knee, a lingering injury that first arose last season.

While the tour interruption was unwelcome for the duo, Lambert’s injury also puts a cramp in their already strained attempts to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

Gibb and Rosenthal took fourth place at the Adelaide Australia Open, the first qualifying event of the year, when they lost to Dalhausser and Rogers. Australia gave Gibb and Rosenthal their eighth qualifying finish, and widened their points lead over Lambert and Metzger, who had planned to play Australia before Lambert’s knee problem resurfaced.

USA Volleyball selects two teams by analyzing each team’s best eight international finishes. The higher the finish, the better the points. Grand slam finishes are worth more than opens.

“We look at it as if it’s a tie ballgame,” Rosenthal said. “The Olympics is a crazy little run we have ... there’s just so much work ahead of us.”

In five FIVB events last season, Lambert and Metzger had three disappointing 17th-place finishes.

“We’re going to have to go and compete against those international teams,” Metzger said. “It’s going to come down to us against Jake and Rosie in who’s going to represent the U.S. and really, it means going up against some of these big European teams and Brazilian teams and performing.”

Lambert played through his knee problems last season and underwent corrective surgery in November when his doctor, Mission Viejo-based William Schobert, discovered cartilage was flaking off his knee. Schobert is the same doctor who treated current women’s world champion Misty May-Treanor and former AVP star Karch Kiraly, who retired last year at age 46.

“By Karch’s calendar, I’ve still got a good 10 years left,” said Lambert, 33.

Lambert went through rehabilitation, but the same problem recurred, and he had a second surgery in February.

He’s now recovering from the latest surgery with physical therapy, weight-lifting, and Bikram yoga.

“It certainly does not help our cause for the Olympics,” said Lambert, who is aiming to play six FIVB events this season as he and Metzger try to catch Gibb and Rosenthal. The team will start international play either May 6 at the Prague Open, or May 13 at the Italian Open.

Lambert knows he’s staring at a tall order, competing heavily on both tours and trying to make the Olympics.

“In Steino’s words, if we do qualify, we’ll be such lords,” Lambert said.

Metzger espoused the difficulties toward the end of the off-season.

“It’s extremely hard,” he said. “You’re flying back and forth across the Atlantic. You’re dead tired. You’re in a different time zone. You play some of these matches and all you want to do is go to sleep because of the time zone difference. You just have to force it, and that’s how you decide the Olympics, playing those kinds of matches.”

Still, the road to Beijing may be paved with a bit of scheming.

Lambert and Metzger plan to play in the Moscow Grand Slam, the last grand slam event before the July 20 cutoff date for Olympic qualifying. They elected to miss the Klagenfurt Grand Slam last year, where Rogers and Dalhausser and Gibb and Rosenthal both played, to play in the AVP’s Chicago Open.

This year, the Moscow Grand Slam is the same weekend as the AVP Boulder tournament. Lambert and Metzger are hoping Rogers and Dalhausser and Gibb and Rosenthal will skip Moscow, leaving Lambert and Metzger a (somewhat) clearer path to a high finish there.

“We’ll see if it pays off,” Lambert said. “It’s kind of a gamble. Those guys might decide to play anyway, and make us look dumb.”

For now, Lambert’s engine is stalling in Costa Mesa, waiting for his race to begin.

“I’ve just got to be patient,” Lambert said. “It feels like being in a pit stop at the beginning of the race instead of being in fifth gear. The Lamborghini’s parked right now so to speak. Got a full tank and a fresh wash job, but keys are not in the ignition yet. I’m catching the bus.”

Matt Fuerbringer, an Estancia High product, will also be competing on the AVP tour this year. He and longtime partner Casey Jennings split for the beginning of the 2007 season, but reunited and will continue playing together this year.

They won the Best of the Beach event last season in San Francisco, giving them the longest active streak with at least one victory in four straight seasons.

On the women’s side, two former Newport Harbor High Sailors are in the thick of the hunt for an Olympic bid as well.

May-Treanor, a 1995 graduate of Newport Harbor, and Kerri Walsh, defending world champions and Olympic gold medalists, have all but clinched a spot, having won seven of eight Federation Internationale de Volleyball qualifying events last year. They lead the American women’s teams in qualifying points, and are once again the favorites on the AVP tour.

It has given the team some breathing room and time to rest after a hectic 2007 international schedule.

“That was one of the main things Kerri and I were fighting for last year,” May-Treanor said. “We wanted the opportunity to qualify last year. Pacing yourself into the games is very important because it’s a lot of pressure to perform at a top level every time you’re out there.”

Unlike the 2004 and 2000 seasons, when May-Treanor was fighting injuries leading into the Athens and Sydney Olympics, this year, the tour’s winningest player is completely healthy.

May-Treanor tweaked her off-season training regimen after a three-day vacation in Phuket, Thailand following the Phuket Open.

“I’ve been feeling healthy, finally finding what works for my body as far as weights,” May-Treanor said. “I started Pilates to strengthen my core. Finding the right balance — it’s like any learning process. It’s trial and error through they years to see what works best for you, and I think I finally found the combination. I feel good.”

May-Treanor and Walsh were the 2007 Crocs Cup champions after winning 13 of 15 AVP tournaments last season.

Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branaugh, currently second, face stiff competition from April Ross, a 2000 graduate of Newport Harbor, and Jennifer Boss who are in third place, as well as Tyra Turner and Laguna Beach High product Rachel Wacholder.

Ross and Boss are starting the season with a new coach, former indoor Olympian Angela Rock.

“Getting fit, getting strong, making sure we last the whole season injury free,” Boss said. “We just needed someone to really push us into this year, and that’s what we’ve been focusing on.”

Youngs won the bronze in Athens with then-partner Holly McPeak, who is retiring from the AVP at the end of the season. McPeak will play her final season with Angie Akers.

Not only an international threat, Youngs and Branaugh found themselves battling May-Treanor and Walsh for AVP bragging rights last season. They stunned crowds in Miami when they defeated Ross and Boss in the season opener.

The Southern California AVP tour stops this season are: Huntington Beach (May 1-4); Hermosa Beach (June 6-8); Long Beach (July 25-27); San Diego (Aug. 1-3); Santa Barbara (Sept. 6-7) and Manhattan Beach (Sept. 19-21).

SORAYA MCDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].