By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
It must have felt like old times for Curt Toppel last weekend.
After retiring from professional indoor volleyball two years ago, the Palisadian proved he can also perform at a high level on the sand, pairing with fellow American Mark Burik to earn the bronze medal Sunday at the Punta Cana Beach Volleyball Tournament in the Dominican Republic.
Cuba’s Karell Piña and Daisel Quesada defeated Canada’s Garrett May and Daniel Dearing in the gold medal match to cap the second stop on the 2015 NORCECA Circuit. In the semifinals, Piña and Quesada lost the opening set to Toppel and Burik before rallying to win, 16-21, 21-15, 15-7.
Toppel and Burik rebounded to win the third-place match, against Honduras’ Mercuri Miller and Wilfredo Vega.
Since embarking on his new career in marketing and product development, the 6’ 9” Toppel has continued to play beach volleyball as a hobby and after winning several FIBVA events he qualified to represent the United States on the NORCECA circuit.
Now 34, Toppel was a standout at Loyola High and went on to become a three-time All-American at Stanford. He led the country as a freshman in kills per game and was third as a sophomore and fifth as a junior. Despite playing only three seasons for the Cardinal, he made five of the school’s career top 10 charts.
In 2001 he played on the USA’s World University Games squad that won a gold medal in Beijing, China and in the summer of 2002 he trained with the U.S. National Team.
Toppel, who grew up in Marquez Knolls and went to St. Matthew’s, played indoors in Puerto Rico, Spain, Germany, Italy, Korea, Greece and Qatar. His Loyola teammates included Palisadians John Selgrath, John Beckwith and Jordan Wadsworth.
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