Lambert out of opener

As the Assn. of Professionals Volleyball tour kicks off in Miami this weekend, it also marks the start of Olympic Watch 2008 for beach volleyball fans.

Two men’s teams angling for coveted spots on the U.S. Olympic beach volleyball team include Costa Mesa residents.

The top two men’s and women’s teams will compete at the Beijing Olympics in August.

Jake Gibb of Costa Mesa and his partner, Sean Rosenthal, are second in the points qualifying race, while Mike Lambert, also of Costa Mesa, and Stein Metzger are trailing in third.

2007 World Champions and AVP Crocs Cup champions Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser lead.

The battle to represent the U.S. has hardly been decided, so this season is likely to resemble last year’s, with AVP athletes making arduous overseas trips as they compete both domestically and abroad.

A knee injury is keeping Lambert confined to Costa Mesa this weekend. He and Metzger won’t make their season debut until the Huntington Beach Open, which starts May 1.

Lambert is sidelined as he rehabilitates a meniscus tear in his right knee, a lingering injury that first arose last season.

While the tour interruption was unwelcome for the duo, Lambert’s injury also puts a cramp in their already strained attempts to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

Gibb and Rosenthal took fourth place at the Adelaide Australia Open, the first qualifying event of the year, when they lost to Dalhausser and Rogers. Australia gave Gibb and Rosenthal their eighth qualifying finish, and widened their points lead over Lambert and Metzger, who had planned to play Australia before Lambert’s knee problem resurfaced.

USA Volleyball selects two teams by analyzing each team’s best eight international finishes. The higher the finish, the better the points. Grand slam finishes are worth more than opens.

“We look at it as if it’s a tie ballgame,” Rosenthal said. “The Olympics is a crazy little run we have ... there’s just so much work ahead of us.”

In five FIVB events last season, Lambert and Metzger had three disappointing 17th-place finishes.

“We’re going to have to go and compete against those international teams,” Metzger said. “It’s going to come down to us against Jake and Rosie in who’s going to represent the U.S. and really, it means going up against some of these big European teams and Brazilian teams and performing.”