Monday, March 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
After three days in the sun and on the sand, Jose Loiola had to admit it.
"It's good to be the King," he said.
Loiola, one of the Miller Lite/AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour's rising stars, earned the title -- this year, anyway -- of being the best in his sport. He won the King of the Beach crown at the Miller Lite/King of the Beach Invitational at the Hard Rock hotel-casino.
Ironically, one of Loiola's sponsors is the Hard Rock Cafe, which is a separate marketing entity from the hotel.
Nevertheless, Loiola emerged after three days as the titlist, thrilling a crowd of 5,000 at a giant makeshift beach behind the hotel.
With traditional favorite Karch Kiraly not in Sunday's finals -- he's still working his way back from shoulder surgery during the offseason and did not advance -- the field opened up. Somewhat.
Loiola still had to contend with last year's most valuable player on the tour, Kiraly's partner Kent Steffes. So did Mike Dodd and Eric Fonoimoana, completing this Final Four.
But the afternoon belonged to Loiola, an effervescent 27-year-old from Copacabana Beach, Brazil -- a suburb of Rio de Janeiro -- who came to the United States five years ago looking to make inroads in beach volleyball.
That, of course, led him to this country's beach mecca, California.
"I'm looking for something more," said Loiola, who last year was voted the best offensive player on the AVP Tour. "This is only the beginning of the year."
Loiola, the runner-up in this event three years in a row, outlasted the other three finalists in a unique format. Each of the four played one match with the remaining three men in the finals; the King of the Beach is the one who picks up the most points along the way.
He paired with Fonoimoana and Steffes and won both matches 15-7. He hooked up with Dodd -- 39 and the oldest of the finalists -- and won 15-13.
"It's hard to win this title," Loiola said. "It's time to forget it now. It's over with, it's done, see you next week."
And when the tour arrives in Phoenix for the next event, March 29-30, Loiola and partner Adam Johnson will try to unseat Kiraly and Steffes as the world's best beach volleyball team. Las Vegas was the first stop on the Miller Lite/AVP Tour in 1997.
"It's really special to win," Loiola said. "I want wo win more."
For anyone who believes beach volleyball players aren't making a decent living, consider the $78,000 in prize money Loiola walked out of Las Vegas with. He made a little less than $300,000 last year.
Dodd, from El Segundo, Calif., was second and won $42,000. Steffes, of Pacific Palisades, Calif., earned $33,000 for third place. Fonoimoana, out of Manhattan Beach, Calif., picked up $32,000.
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