Sister act

Ask Katie and Tracy Lindquist which is harder, teaching or beach volleyball, and the answer is instantaneous.

Really, it’s not even close.

“Teaching is definitely more tiring,” Katie Lindquist said. “Volleyball, it doesn’t feel like work.”

The answer makes sense. After all, running around in the sand on a picturesque summer day can’t really compare to keeping up with kindergartners, which Katie has to do as a teacher at Patton Elementary in Garden Grove.

Yet both have proven rewarding for the sisters and Huntington Beach residents, who will play in their hometown tournament this weekend at the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Crocs Tour Huntington Beach Open.

The thrill of not only playing on their home sand but in front of friends and family is considerable for Katie, 31, and Tracy, 28. It’s not quite just another day playing at the pier, which they have done countless times since they were teenagers at Ocean View High, but Tracy said she feels there really is a home-court advantage.

“It’s always our favorite tournament,” said Tracy, who is a sixth-grade teacher locally at Mesa View Middle School. “It’s always a great event, always a fun environment. Huntington always has a lot of energy. We feel more comfortable at Huntington than anywhere else. We know the wind, the sand, and it goes in our favor.”

The Lindquist sisters, both 5-foot-6, are no longer newcomers on the tour; they’re certifiable veterans. They have been playing together on the tour since 2001, when Tracy was still at USC, where the setter helped lead the Trojans to the NCAA championship in 2003.

It was a sticky situation those first couple of summers for Tracy. In accordance with NCAA regulations, she wasn’t allowed to accept her earnings from the tour.

“I paid for all my travel, and I didn’t win any money,” she said.

But it was still a positive experience. Once she got done at USC, there wasn’t so much of a learning curve for the beach game.

They’ve played together in 84 AVP tournaments, but the Lindquist sisters can usually be found around ninth place lately. In 2008, they finished tied for ninth in seven of their 15 tournaments, and each sister made just more than $37,000 on the tour. They also had their top-two finishes ever, when they tied for third in Louisville then did it again last June in Belmar, N.J.