Cover Story

Beach Force

AVP star Mike Lambert is on the fast track to long-term dominance on the beach.

By Mike Miazga

Mike Lambert's impact on the AVP men's tour last year was enormous.

The 6'6" Lambert finished in the top 3 of 10 out of the 12 events he played in and won a total of four titles (3 with regular partner Karch Kiraly and 1 with Eric Fonoimoana when Kiraly was sidelined by injury). He also took a second in Chicago with John Hyden when Kiraly was out with a back ailment.

Those four title wins were the most by a single player (Dax Holdren and Fonoimoana also won 4 each in 2002) on the circuit since 1996 Olympic gold medalist Kent Steffes won nine titles with three different partners in 1998.

Kind of: Lambert sort of won a fifth title in 2004, helping fellow Hawaii native Sean Scott win the Best of the Beach event in Honolulu.

But the vastness of Lambert's accomplishments last year were ramped up even higher by something the legendary Kiraly, who at age 44 is beginning his 22nd season on the tour, brought to light.

"I don't even know if you could quantify it to the point we would win tournaments when I had no shoulder last year," said Kiraly, who had off-season shoulder surgery.

"He handled the load. Mike is a combination of a lot of things. He has a tremendous drive to always get better.

He's the best blocker in the world on the beach. He's a great athlete that has a great combination of being tall with long arms and he can jump high and has great ball control and he's a great setter and an almost unstoppable hitter. You put it all together and that makes him the MVP of the AVP last year and for the foreseeable future."

Veteran Stein Metzger, a 2004 Olympian, got a birds-eye view of Lambert's dominance earlier this year as his partner in an exhibition in Brazil against 2004 Olympic gold medalists Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos. While Lambert and Metzger lost, they took the Brazilian standouts the distance and served match point seven times and swung for match point twice.

"The smaller court has really made the big block effective and Mike has proven that he can do it the best," said Metzger. "It is nearly impossible to have consistent success without a big, scary block and Mike's is the most frightening of all the big men."

Lambert has rebounded nicely from a shoulder injury that sidelined him in 2003.

Lambert, who has rebounded from a shoulder operation that curtailed his rising career for the entire 2003 season, figured some success might happen last year.

"I thought we would do well, but we did a lot better than I thought we would," said Lambert, a Kaneohe, Hawaii native who turned 31 on April 14. "We definitely surpassed expectations. I was hoping to win one maybe two. And then I win three with Karch and one with Eric and get to the finals a bunch of times. It was awesome. I was so stoked."

Lambert said rolling up the sleeves away from the competition was paramount to his development.

"It's a testament to all the hard work Karch and I did with Mr. Plyo Man (plyometrics expert Mike Rangel, who is also the team's coach). He was a key ingredient to mine and Karch's and our team's success. We worked real hard. It's a really great feeling when you get to reap the benefits."

Rangel, who is also the exclusive plyometrics coach for 2004 Olympic gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May, underestimated Lambert's dominance.

"I told him by the end of the season he would be the best player on the tour and maybe in the world," said Rangel. "He made a liar out of me. He was the best player on tour by the third tournament."

Rangel also was blown away by Lambert's commitment to training.

"He never once questioned anything and never once complained. He's coachable and he's humble," said Rangel. "He would drive from Manhattan Beach to Doheny, which is an hour each way, twice a week for nine months. When Karch was at the Olympics for NBC, he and I trained twice a week for a month. He didn't have to train. That's commitment. That's why he is the best player in the world."

Lambert won four titles in 2004, three with the legendary Kiraly.

And, according to Lambert, just the sheer fact he's out on the sand has played a role in his rise to the top as well.

"I've been playing volleyball a long time," said Lambert. "I played a lot of indoor and I felt I was good, but I wasn't reaching my full potential. Playing on the beach...there is something about the beach. It's the kind of game and it's the kind of player I am. I have it in my blood. It feels good to be out there playing beach volleyball and it's cool to be part of something that is growing and try to make it into something great."

His indoor career, which lasted five years and took him to Italy (where he met his wife) and Greece, is something Lambert is thankful for. Lambert, a three-time All-American at Stanford, also enjoyed a five-year stint with the U.S. Men's National Team. He played in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics.

"I felt very fortunate, especially playing in Italy in a very high-level league," said Lambert, who helped lead Stanford to the 1997 NCAA title. "But it would have been hard to do the national team and indoors consistently. If there was no beach, I would probably be playing in Italy. What I enjoy about playing here is your body gets to recover. You get to build up strength and a base and hopefully stay injury free. It's a smart way to make yourself a career. You get to take time off to where you are not always pushing your body."

Lambert's wife, Deborah, is expecting the couple's first child (a baby girl) on June 14. The couple moved into a new home in Costa Mesa, Calif. this past off-season. Lambert still enjoys playing the guitar. He and Loyola Marymount alum Corin Bemus have a band called "Skank and Shank." They play at barbeques, weddings and parties. Lambert graduated from Punahoe High School in Hawaii which is the same school current and former AVP men's players like Stein Metzger, Kevin Wong, Scott Wong, Sean Scott and Lee LeGrande attended. Lambert has a degree in political science from Stanford. Lambert's sisters, Debbie (Stanford), and, Mia (UCLA), also won NCAA volleyball titles, giving the Lambert children five NCAA national volleyball crowns.

As for being a poster-child of sorts for the "big man" surge in the men's game, Lambert says not so fast.

"The big man was there before me," said Lambert. "(Mike) Whitmarsh had been carrying the flag for a long time. I kind of feel like the big man is the big man. There are a lot of really good medium-sized guys and not that many big guys."

But this big guy knows with success comes the proverbial target on the back.

"When you win a couple of times, your friends are stoked for you," said Lambert. "After you start winning—I've only won four and Karch has won a whole lot more—people want to take you down. I'm sure people will want to take down Karch and Lambo. But at the same time, we're motivated. I've been in battles where the match is on the line. I can't wait."

Just as Kiraly can't quantify Lambert's contributions last year, Lambert has equally poignant things to say about the game's alltime winningest player.

"In general, he's what you hope for in a partnership," said Lambert. "One plus one equals three. I think we somehow together are better as a team. Karch is also about ball control and experience. I have way less ball control and can be big at the net. It's a master-apprentice relationship. Karch brings the best out in me. When the match comes on the line, he blooms like a fl ower. He makes me better. Maybe I don't know a lot about winning tournaments, but if I see him over there chilling, then I'm chilling. I look over at him and it takes a lot of the guesswork out. He passes so well he almost sets himself."

With what Lambert has accomplished in such a short time, there is already buzz about the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Lambert's performance with Metzger in Brazil earlier this year even adds more gas to flames.

"Beijing for sure," said Lambert. "For us to play the best team in the world that tough and have two swings for match after we practiced maybe four times together, that will get you fired up. I've been to two Olympics and didn't get the feeling I was there at my peak playing at my best. The Olympics hasn't been what I thought it was for me. I think Beijing could be."

Kiraly sees even more largess on the horizon for his partner. "He's a phenomenal player. I look for big things from him," said Kiraly. "He's starting to see how he compares to the best teams in the world and he feels he's already right there. He's hungry."

And that hunger doesn't look to be satisfied any time soon.