AVP Miller Lite Open at Phoenix
March 28-30, 1997

RESULTS

SUNDAY

STEFFES AND LOIOLA CAPTURE FIRST TOURNAMENT WIN TOGETHER
AT MILLER LITE OPEN IN PHOENIX

PHOENIX (March 30, 1997) -- The No. 1 seeded tandem of Kent Steffes and Jose Loiola captured their first tournament victory together as a team as they defeated No. 3 seeds Scott Ayakatubby and Brian Lewis, 15-8, to win the $100,000 Miller Lite Open at Phoenix. Steffes' 89th career victory marks the first time he has won a tournament without longtime partner Karch Kiraly since pairing with Tim Hovland to win the Hard Rock Cafe Challenge Cup in Santa Monica in 1992. Steffes chose to partner with Loiola after it was learned that Kiraly would miss the event due to a nerve injury in his right shoulder.

Liola's 14th career win on the Miller Lite/AVP Tour comes after winning a total of 11 tournaments with former partner Adam Johnson, who he has teamed with since May of 1995.

The No.2-seeded tandem of Olympic silver medalists Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh placed third after falling to Ayakatubby and Lewis 15-13 in the loser's bracket final.

Rookie sensations Dan Castillo and Justin Pursley, seeded No. 29 and playing together in their first tournament since qualifying for the Miller Lite/AVP Tour last season, upset No. 4 seeds Dain Blanton and Canyon Ceman, 15-13 on Saturday. Their fifth place marks the best finish by a rookie team playing together in their first tournament on the Miller Lite/AVP Tour.

The Miller Lite/AVP Tour returns to action April 5-6 at the AVP Riviera Beach Open in Riviera Beach, Florida. for ticket information contact Telecharge at (800) 432-7470.

$100,000 total prize money
32 Teams

1st - Kent Steffes/Jose Loiola (1)           $20,000
        def. #32 (15-5), #17 (15-7), 
             #8  (15-4), #29 (15-11), 
             #2  (15-2), #3  (15-8)

2nd - Scott Ayakatubby/Brian Lewis (3)       $11,400
        def. #30, #14  loss #6 (7-15)  def. #19, #10, #29, #4, loss #1

3rd - Mike Dodd/Mike Whitmarsh (2)           $ 9,030
        def. #31, #15, #10, #6  loss #1, #3

4th - Dain Blanton/Canyon Ceman (4)          $ 7,130
        loss #29 (13-15)  def. #13, #14, #5, #28, #8, #6  loss #3

5th - Troy Tanner/Ian Clark (6)              $ 5,700
        def. #27, #11, #3 (15-7)  loss #2 (14-16), #4

5th - Dan Castillo/Jason Pursley (29)        $ 5,700
        def. #4 (15-13), #20 (15-8), #28 (15-10)  loss #1, #3

7th - Randy Stoklos/David Swatik (8)         $ 4,280
        def. #25, #9  loss #1 (4-15)  def. #25  loss #4

7th - Mark Kerins/Andrew Smith (10)          $ 4,280
        def. #23, #7  loss #2 (7-14)  def. #9 (15-5)  loss #3

9th - Nick Hannemann/Henry Russell (9)       $ 3,090
        def. #24, #26, #18
9th - Albert Hannemann/Wayne Seligson (19)   $ 3,090
        def. #30, #20, #22
9th - Mike Garcia/Jason Stimpfig (25)        $ 3,090
        def. #24, #7, #15
9th - Greg Shankle/Kevin Wong (28)           $ 3,090
        def. #5, #21

13th- Eduardo Bacil/Ricci Luyties (5)        $ 2,130
        def. #12, #11
13th- Lee Legrand/Matt Unger (15)            $ 2,130            
        def. #18, #16
13th- Brent Doble/Michael Schlegel (18)      $ 2,130
        def. #31, #17
13th- Todd Ahmadi/Curtis Griffin (22)        $ 2,130
        def. #27, #21

17th- Bill Boullianne/Eric Wurts (7)         $   950
        def. #26
17th- Scott Friederichsen/Jim Nichols (11)   $   950
        def. #22
17th- Kevin Martin/Chris Young (14)          $   950
        def. #19
17th- Lance Lyons/Justin Perlstrom (16)      $   950
        def. #32
17th- Aaron Boss/Raul Papaleo (17)           $   950
        def. #16
17th- Daniel Cardenas/Mark Paaluhi (20)      $   950
        def. #13
17th- James Fellows/Burke Stefko (21)        $   950
        def. #12
17th- Dax Holdren/Todd Rodgers (26)          $   950
        def. #23

25th- John Brajevic/Jeff Rodgers (12)        $   500
25th- Brian Gatzke/Leif Hanson (13)          $   500
25th- Marcelo Duarte/Doug Foust (23)         $   500
25th- Andre Gomez/Dan Vrebalovich (24)       $   500
25th- Greg Ryan/Steve Simpson (27)           $   500  
25th- Eduardo Garrido/Carlos Loss (30)       $   500      Brazilian Team
25th- Leeland Quibb/Matt Winterburn (31)     $   500
25th- Stein Metzger/Sean Scott (32)          $   500

NOTES: Number in brackets "(#)" reflects the teams seeding

       Wins, and team defeated, are noted with "def. #seed"
       Upsets are in bold
       25th place teams have no wins (defeated two straight)

SATURDAY

TOP SEEDS ADVANCE AFTER FIRST DAY OF PLAY AT THE
MILLER LITE OPEN AT PHOENIX

PHOENIX (March 29, 1997) -- The top-seeded team of Kent Steffes and Jose Loiola tallied three straight victories at the $100,000 Miller Lite Open at Phoenix Saturday as they advanced to Sunday's winner's bracket semi-finals.

Steffes, who paired with Karch Kiraly to win the first Olympic gold medal for beach volleyball at the 1996 Summer Games, and new partner Loiola, The newly-crowned King of the Beach, posted victories of 15-5, 15-7 and 15-4 and will meet rookie sensations Dan Castillo and Jason Pursley.

No. 29 seeds Castillo and Pursley also provided the biggest upset of the day as they defeated No. 4 seeds Canyon Ceman and Dain Blanton, 15-13.

Olympic silver medalists and No. 2 seeds Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh also went undefeated through Saturday's play and will face No. 6 seeds Ian Clark and Troy Tanner.

Sunday's action resumes with winner's bracket semi-final play scheduled for 9 AM. Tickets for the $100,000 Miller Lite Open at Phoenix are still available at the tournament site, or by calling Dillard's at (602) 503-5555.

REMAINING TEAMS:

WINNERS BRACKET
Kent Steffes/Jose Loiola (1)
  def. #32, #17, #8

Mike Dodd/Mike Whitmarsh (2)
  def. #31, #15, #10

Troy Tanner/Ian Clark (6)
  def. #27, #11, #3 (15-7)

Dan Castillo/Jason Pursley (29)
  def. #4 (15-13), #20 (15-8), #28 (15-10)

LOSERS BRACKET
Scott Ayakatubby/Brian Lewis (3)
  def. #30, #14  loss #6 (7-15)  def. #19

Dain Blanton/Canyon Ceman (4)
  loss #29 (13-15)  def. #13, #14, #5, #28

Randy Stoklos/David Swatik (8)
  def. #25, #9  loss #1 (4-15)  def. #25 

Mark Kerins/Andrew Smith (10)
  def. #23, #7  loss #2 (7-14)  def. #9 (15-5)

DATE & TIMES

   March 29-30  
      Saturday 9 am - 6:30 pm (Mountain)
      Sunday   9 am - 4 pm
   (Qualifier on March 28)

LOCATION

    Rio Salado
    Arizona State University
    Tempe, Arizona

TICKETS

 Reserved and General Admission Seats:
  In Phoenix: 602-503-5555
  Outside: 800-638-4253

TELEVISION

Fox Sports Net

PLAYERS

Top teams for this weekend -

     Steffes/Loiola
     Dodd/Whitmarsh
     Lewis/Ayakatubby
     Blanton/Ceman
     Bacil/Luyties
     Tanner/Clark

Complete seedings are still being determined.
They will be posted here as soon as they are 
available.

Kiraly  out for 5-6 weeks (recovering from surgery).
Heidger out for   3 weeks (recovering from surgery).
Frohoff out for   ? weeks (recovering from surgery).

PRIZE MONEY

$100,000 in prize money

TOURNAMENT FORMAT

32 Teams
Double Elimination

PAST CHAMPIONS

1996 
TOP 4 TEAMS
      Adam Johnson/Jose Loiola
      Karch Kiraly/Kent Steffes
      Bill Boulianne/Randy Stoklos
      Mike Dodd/Mike Whitmarsh

Adam Johnson and Jose Loiola. the no. 2 ranked team on the AVP computer rankings, won their second tournament in three 1996 outings with a 15-10 victory over Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes. Johnson/Loiola advanced straight to the final by edging third place Randy Stoklos and Bill Boullianne, 15-14 in the winners' bracket final. Kiraly and Steffes had to fight their way through the consolation bracket by beating fourth place Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh, 15-4. They fell into the consolation bracket after losing 15-6 to Stoklos and Boullianne in Saturday's winners' bracket quarterfinal.

1995
TOP 4 TEAMS
      Scott Ayakatubby/Karch Kiraly
      Adam Johnson/Randy Stoklos
      Brent Frohoff/Rob Heidger
      Mike Dodd/Mike Whitmarsh

The team of Karch Kiraly and Scott Ayakatubby captured the first place of the tournament at the Mesa Amphitheater, when Randy Stoklos and Adam Johnson forfeited the match after Stoklos became ill. It marked the first victory of the season for the pair.

1994
In 1994, Kiraly and Kent Steffes fought back through the loser's bracket as they defeated Stoklos and Johnson, 15-7 and 7-5 in a rare sudden-death playoff.

1993
Tim Hovland and Mike Dodd turned back the clock as they rose from the dead, down 6-1 to Kiraly and Steffes, to win 7-6 in a rubber game of a startling final. "I've never seen the crowd in such a frenzy. They were all on their feet by 6-4 or 6-5," said Hovland, referring to he and Dodd's startling comeback. Hovland got in a jump serve and he and Dodd won the decisive rally, 7-6. As Hovland put it, "I don't remember anything better in the history of volleyball" (Phoenix Gazette) Ironically, it was Hovlands's last career Open win (#60).

1992 Smith/Stoklos
1991 Smith/Stoklos
1990 Smith/Stoklos
1989 Hovland/Dodd
1988 Smith/Stoklos
1987 Smith/Stoklos
1986 Smith/Stoklos

YEAR EVENT BEGAN: 1984

AVP Miller Lite Open at Phoenix March 28-30, 1997