Officials Say 2 Tournaments Not Better Than 1 : Volleyball: Governing body of women’s pro circuit schedules Shootout in Las Vegas on same weekend of Manhattan Beach Open.

While players on the Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. tour like the fact that two tournaments are scheduled for May 30-31, Manhattan Beach city officials aren’t thrilled about the idea.

The WPVA scheduled the Shootout in Las Vegas and the Manhattan Beach Open on the same weekend. The Shootout, which offers a $50,000 purse, is an invitational tournament for the WPVA’s top eight teams.

That means the top 16 players on the tour will not compete in the Manhattan Beach Open that weekend. The event’s $10,000 purse is the lowest of any two-woman tournament this season.

WPVA Executive Director Roxana Vargas downplayed the city’s dissatisfaction by pointing out that the season-ending $100,000 World Championships will take place in Manhattan Beach on Aug. 21-23.

It will mark the first time in the WPVA’s six-year history that the city plays host to the event. It’s also the first time two tournaments come to Manhattan Beach in one season.

“Everybody will have the opportunity to play in Manhattan Beach at the World Championships,” Vargas said. “We’re exploring and extending our tour. We’re addressing several issues.”

One of them is that a second event was essential during the Invitational Shootout because in the past, those who didn’t qualify for it didn’t have a place to compete.

Vargas said that the level of competition isn’t much different between the tour’s best players such as Angela Rock, Karolyn Kirby and Linda Carrillo and the lower-seeded athletes who will compete in Manhattan Beach.

“On our tour there’s enough depth within the organization,” she said. “It’s not to say that they’re not top players. A lot of them missed the shootout by a couple of points.”

But city officials are having a difficult time figuring out why the WPVA picked Manhattan Beach, a popular sight among players and a volleyball hotbed for more than two decades.

“At first I thought they trashed a good tournament,” said Charlie Saikley, Manhattan Beach recreation supervisor in charge of sports. “When it gets down to the nitty-gritty, I don’t like it at all. They claim the big tournament is the World Championships, but the World Championships is no bigger than the (Manhattan Beach Open). That particular one is no bigger or different to us.”

Saikley says the only positive is that unknown players and possibly newcomers on the tour can be competitive in what has been one of beach volleyball’s most prestigious tournaments.

“The good side is that new people can come there and win money,” he said. “You can look at it from that side and it’s not so bad.”

In the past, many top male and female players have said no other tournaments compare to those held in South Bay locations such as Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach.

The big crowds and scenic beaches are more popular than some of the landlocked sights where sand is trucked into a parking lot to simulate a beach court.

But the WPVA’s top-ranked players are willing to pass up the scenery and a hometown crowd for a shot at the more prestigious and lucrative Shootout.

“Being part of the Shootout is quite an honor,” said Patty Dodd, who lives in El Segundo and trains in Manhattan Beach. “In the back of my mind I think if I make the Shootout I can come back and play in the World Championships. The worst-case scenario is that I don’t qualify for the Shootout and I can play at home and have a great chance to win.”

Holly McPeak, a Manhattan Beach native who will team up with Dodd this season, agrees with her new partner.

“I love playing in local tournaments because there’s great local support for me here,” McPeak said. “But the Shootout is a big tournament. If we wouldn’t be back for the World Championships at the end of August, then I would be disappointed.”

The WPVA will kick off the 1992 season in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico next weekend. Other local stops on the tour include the $50,000 Hermosa Beach Open on June 13-14 and the $75,000 U.S. Open in Venice Beach on Aug. 1-2.