Another Day at the Beach : O’Hara Still Commanding Attention as Player, Coach

HERMOSA BEACH —  Just picture Marla O’Hara addressing the Chaminade High girls’ volleyball team for the first time.

Listen up girls. Please explain the difference between piercing and spiking. Need a demonstration?

Exhibit A: Piercing.

The girls gasp as O’Hara, their coach, sticks out her tongue and exposes her belly. Rings glisten in each.

Exhibit B: Spiking.

O’Hara, a 10-year veteran of the Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn., jogs onto the court, deftly takes a pass, slams it over the net at warp speed then screams, “YEEAAAHHH,” at the top of her lungs.

At first blush, O’Hara, 36, mother of Kellie, 9, and Michael, 7, might seem a tad along for this piercing and spiking stuff.

But blushing isn’t in her vocabulary. Hear her tell all, rapidfire, about pro beach tournaments on the south of France and coast of Portugal this summer, the WPVA national championships at Hermosa Beach this weekend, the improving Chaminade team this fall.

The fit is as snug as the spandex she wears during competition. For O’Hara, life remains a beach long after the slogan has slouched into cliche.

“Volleyball is a way to stay young,” she said. “I spend so much time in the sun. I’m so active. I’m so physical. I exercise so much.”

And during matches, she is so, well, unmistakable.

“I wouldn’t say she’s a Dennis Rodman, but she is very loud and vocal and aggressive,” said Linda Chisholm, who has competed against O’Hara the past decade. “Off the court, Marla is sweet and lovable. On the court, there is a transformation.

“You have to have personalities like that out there. She’s good for the game.”

And still getting better. O’Hara was selected the WPVA’s most improved player in 1991, and while not among the top money-winners on the tour, she is a crowd pleaser.

O’Hara, who lives in Agoura Hills, ranks 21st all-time with earnings of $81,260, and has competed in 22 grand slam events. She and Dennie Shupryt-Knoop won the Manhattan Beach Open in 1992.

“I stumbled into this accidentally when an old college teammate asked me to give the beach a go,” she said. “I hadn’t even heard of it. I looked at my watch and said, ‘Let’s go.’

“It’s been a lot of hard work. I didn’t come from the national team or any Olympic team. I worked my way up the ladder.”

O’Hara played indoor volleyball at Hawthorne High and El Camino College, but her first love was snowboarding. She fell for beach volleyball because the scene is similar.

“Snowboarding is a free for all, a grungy-type of scene,” she said. “Beach volleyball isn’t as wild but it’s still relaxed and carefree. I know I’m a little old for it, but I love it.”

Coaching is quickly becoming another passion. O’Hara has been good for Chaminade’s game as well as her own. The Eagles won their first league match last season and a strong, motivated nucleus returns next season.

“We won four nonleague matches, which was unheard of for Chaminade,” she said.

So was a coach with rings in her nose, tongue and belly.

“It was tough at the beginning,” she said. “The way I dress is very beachy, with short shorts and spandex tops. I think there were some complaints, but once parents got to know me and saw my love for the sport and love for the kids, they became supportive.”

O’Hara’s grandmother, who watches over Kellie and Michael while O’Hara travels the WPVA circuit, views her granddaughter with an arched eyebrow.

“She asks me who I’m mad at now,” O’Hara said. “But it’s just a look. I’m not mad at all.”

Just obsessed with the sport. O’Hara will continue to tour until the next Olympic trials, even though making one of the three U.S. teams is a longshot.

By then, O’Hara plans to have completed the last year toward her business degree at Cal State Northridge and to pursue a full-time job teaching and coaching.

Maybe minus the rings.

“When I grow up I can take them out,” she said.

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Beach Ball!

* What: Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn. 11th annual Evian National Championships.

* Where: The Pier at Hermosa Beach.

* When: Championship competition begins today at 9 a.m. Twelve teams advance to Sunday, with play beginning at 8 a.m. The tournament final is at 3 p.m. and will be televised on ABC.

* Tickets: Admission is free.

* Fast fact: Defending national champions Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak are also the leading money winners this season with $51,250 each.