Volleyball: Side Out, Part Two: Trouble in the Big City
By Todd Balf

In the final preseason event held indoors last February at Madison Square Garden, Randy Stoklos and Adam Johnson easily ousted Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes. For the 34-year-old Stoklos, the win before 12,000 summer-starved New Yorkers was particularly sweet: Kiraly, also 34, had recently overtaken him as the Association of Volleyball Professionals all-time leading money-winner, with $1,686,124 in earnings. Meanwhile, Stoklos and Steffes have an ongoing feud that dates back to a postgame fistfight a few years ago. This time around, the 15-7 final was surprisingly one-sided and lacked any Wrestlemania-style extracurriculars. Things are bound to get more heated, though, as the outdoor season begins and the two teams square off this month in Clearwater, Florida, for the first U.S. date in a yearlong point series that will serve as the qualifying competition for the sport's first Olympic appearance, at the 1996 Atlanta Games.