UCLA alum volleyball player Karch Kiraly will
co-host the AVP Hour, a weekly radio show on professional beach
volleyball, with former teammate Sinjin Smith.
By Daniel Miller
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]
Former UCLA men’s volleyball players dominate the beach
tour in the Association of Volleyball Professionals, with six
Bruins in the all-time top-10 list for victories. Thus, it is
fitting that UCLA alumni Karch Kiraly and Sinjin Smith, the
sport’s most successful athletes, will dominate the
volleyball radio airwaves as they host the AVP Hour from 7-8 p.m.
Thursdays on KMPC 1540 AM.
The show pairs up arguably the two greatest athletes to ever
play pro beach volleyball ““ two players whose different
ideologies should make for interesting material on the show.
“They have not agreed on anything when it comes to
volleyball since they left UCLA,” Bruin men’s
volleyball coach Al Scates said. “They both want the sport to
do well, and they are the best competitors out there, but they have
different viewpoints.”
Scates coached both players throughout their tenure at UCLA,
with Kiraly and Smith playing together in 1979 when UCLA won the
national championship and completed its first of three undefeated
seasons. That year, Smith was a senior and partnered up with then
freshman Kiraly. According to Scates, the two trained together and
were very competitive.
Now, their differences in opinion center around Smith’s
promotion of the use of rally scoring, which awards a point on
every play. Smith said he, like most players on the tour, prefers
the traditional sideout scoring system, but felt that rally scoring
was necessary in order to make the game more exciting.
Daily Bruin File Photo
UCLA alum Sinjin Smith, who played for the AVP
last summer at Manhattan Beach, has since retired from the
sport.
“I was looked at as the bad guy, but over time, people
will forget about that,” Smith said. “I don’t
personally like rally scoring but it’s better for
spectators.”
Their differences of opinion should make for some exciting
material for the show, which made its debut last Thursday. The show
is the brainchild of Jeff Keller, an accounting executive at KMPC,
who expects it to continue for 12 weeks during the summer AVP
season.
“Beach volleyball is the epitome of Southern
California,” he said. “It’s a sexy and exciting
sport. I’m a fan of the AVP, and it is an untapped market
that can help our station.”
Smith (second all-time with 139 victories and eighth all-time in
career earnings with nearly $1.5 million) envisions Kiraly and
himself (first all-time with 142 victories and first all-time in
career earnings with nearly $3 million) acting as the
straightforward men to the animated Chris “Geeter”
McGee, who also announces AVP tour matches and brings a great deal
of energy to the show. The show will feature guests from the
volleyball world, and the hosts will take calls from listeners.
According to Keller, about 25 people called in during the
hour-long show on Thursday to talk volleyball.
“Loved it. It was dynamite,” he said.
Interestingly, Kiraly continues to play pro beach volleyball,
while Smith may return pending recovery from knee surgery.
“I think that we will have a great dynamic,” Smith
said. “Being on the tour and discussing the sport with
opponents will be interesting.”
Both Smith and Kiraly are seen as the elder statesmen of the
sport. Many of the tour’s players grew up watching and being
inspired by these two leaders.
“The AVP is incredibly competitive with a lot of former
UCLA players,” Smith said. “Even though you come from
the same school, you want to win. Al Scates chooses winners and
develops that intensity and level of play ““ that is why so
many alumni are successful.”
Despite their differences, if Kiraly and Smith’s past
collaborations are any indication, great things are to be expected
from these two Bruins.
With reports from Diamond Leung, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.