Karch Kiraly has one regret about his last year on the professional beach volleyball tour. His hometown has been deleted from the 2007 AVP schedule.

If he had grown up in a town other than Santa Barbara, the pink-capped Kiraly may never have become the world's most recognizable volleyball player.

His physician father, Laszlo Kiraly, moved the family here from Michigan when Karch was 4 years old. "Laz" had played for the Hungarian national volleyball team, and he taught his son the rudiments of the game at the East Beach courts, a mecca for players of all skill levels.

Kiraly remembers seeing Henry Bergmann, an icon in the days before the sport went professional, smacking balls for hours at a stretch.

Santa Barbara was one of the first California cities to sponsor beach volleyball tournaments, dating back to 1950. There have been 50 major men's tournaments and 30 women's here since then. Only Manhattan Beach has hosted a greater total.

A year out of high school, Kiraly won the first of his seven Santa Barbara Open titles at East Beach in 1979. His partner was Sinjin Smith, and they won three more times here. Kiraly also triumphed with Kent Steffes, Adam Johnson and Brent Doble -- the last time in 2002.

"One of my favorite venues was in front of the bathhouse at East Beach," Kiraly said. "It was a wonderful setting, and the sand was nice and soft."

The last three local AVP tournaments were held at West Beach, between the harbor and Stearns Wharf.

"There's a lot more walk-by traffic at West Beach," Kiraly said, "but the sand is hard. It's harbor dredge. From a pounding standpoint, it's better for my body not having to go there."

But from a standpoint of playing one of his last events in front of friends and family, Kiraly will miss his hometown. The AVP has added nine larger markets to the schedule -- including Miami, Dallas, Louisville, Tampa and Boston -- and eliminated Santa Barbara.

It's as if the NFL took the Packers out of Green Bay and moved them to Los Angeles.

"I'm really disappointed," Kiraly said."I was looking to playing there one more time. But whether I'm playing or not, Santa Barbara deserves to have an event."

He said he has received assurances from the AVP that it will work Santa Barbara back into the schedule next year. This year's lineup, he said, was complicated by the onset of Olympic qualifying events on the FIVB World Tour.

"Putting together the schedule was like solving a Rubik's cube," Kiraly said.

Kiraly, 46, has not played overseas since an injury derailed his attempt to qualify for the 2000 Olympics. He will end his career by playing "11 or 12" AVP events this year, including the opener April 13-15 at Miami.

His playing partner will be Kevin Wong, a seasoned 34-year-old player from Hawaii. Wong has the size (6-foot-7) to do some blocking for the 6-2 Kiraly.

"We worked out a few weeks ago and it went pretty well," said Kiraly, who lives in San Clemente. "He went back to Hawaii, thought it over and opted to give it a shot. I'm excited. Kevin and Stein (Metzger)  were the best team in 2001. He played in the Olympics (Sydney 2000 with Rob Heidger), he won in Santa Barbara and Manhattan Beach. He's played at the top level for some time."

Wong tried to team up with his brother Scott last year. "He said, 'We're better brothers than partners,' " Kiraly said.

Unless he qualifies for the postseason tournaments that are based on the final standings, Kiraly will conclude his 29-year career over Labor Day weekend (Aug. 30-Sept. 2) at Cincinnati

"Some people asked me why not make Manhattan Beach (Aug. 9-12) the last one," Kiraly said, "but it would have been hard to get the best partner if I miss too many events."

Kiraly's 2006 season was cut short by a knee injury, but he said, "I've been working out since October, and I'm feeling good."

The reigning most valuable player on the AVP Tour is another Santa Barbara product, 33-year-old Todd Rogers. He and Phil Dalhausser, who moved here from Florida, won eight events in 2006. Not only will they try to stay on top of the domestic scene this year, they will make a big push for Olympic qualifying points in Europe.

"Todd and Phil had a great year," said Kiraly. "They will be really tough."

After seeing him defy the aging process while winning his 148th title at Huntington Beach two years ago, Kiraly's competitors will not be taking it easy on the old man, and the best player ever expects nothing but the best from them.

 

Gauchos' home finale: Evan Patak could become the second UCSB spiker to reach 2,000 kills tonight when the Gauchos host Cal State Northridge in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball match at Robertson Gym. The first serve is at 7 p.m. Patak, a 6-8 senior from Pleasanton, has put away 1,987 balls.

The all-time Gaucho leader is Donny Harris, who recorded 2,114 kills in a career ending in 1997. UCSB (17-10, 12-7 MPSF and ranked No. 5 in the nation) has already clinched a berth in the MPSF playoffs.

The Gauchos can secure a home match in the April 21 quarterfinals by winning two of their final three matches -- tonight's, Wednesday's at USC and next Saturday's match at top-ranked Pepperdine. Northridge, ranked No. 7, is 10-9 in the conference.