World Best Sports

The fifth of six FIVB World Tour Grand Slams commenced Wednesday in Klagenfurt, Austria, with the women playing two pool-play matches each. The top two American tandems won twice, while the two lower-ranked teams lost twice.

No. 7 Angie Akers and Tyra Turner began their tournament by falling to the lowest- seeded team in their group, 26th-seeded Russians Maria Bratkova and Evgenia Ukolova (18-21, 23-21, 19-17), then fell to No. 23 Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernandez Steiner of Spain in straight sets (21-11, 21-16).

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Just over six weeks ago, former beach volleyball star Anna Scarlett made the agonising decision to give up on her Olympic dream. Now, the Commonwealth Games beckon. But if it sounds like she's settling for the next best thing, it certainly didn't feel that way for Scarlett when she got the phone call yesterday morning from Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken telling her she would be heading to Delhi.

"I couldn't believe it," Scarlett enthused. "It was just so exciting to know I'd be wearing that black dress again and now I just can't wait to run back out there and sing the national anthem and play for my country again." Having played very little in the way of top-level netball since turning her back on the Ferns three years ago after the bitter disappointment of missing out on the 2007 World Champs team, Scarlett said she wasn't getting her hopes up for re-selection this year.

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Team Fabutan poses for a photo at the 11th annual KPMG Beach Volleyball Tournament held July 17 at Kingston Expert Tees. Fifteen teams raised $15,350 for Easter Seals kids living with physical disabilities in the Kingston area. The money will be used for mobility equipment and communication devices as well as to help send kids to summer camps and recreational programs.

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After a one-year absence, professional beach volleyball returns to Long Beach this weekend when the AVP rolls into town for the Long Beach Open to be held at Marina Green Park downtown along Shoreline Drive. Best of all? This year, thanks to sponsor Malibu Rum, general admission is free! Courtside seats range between $25-40 and AVP Club seats fetch $60, but it'll cost you nothing to get in and see the best athletes in the sport do battle under the sun. Get there early, as the stands will be packed. Saturday's opening rounds begin at 9:00am until around 7:00pm, and the Sunday action starts at 8:30am with the men's final at 1:00pm and the women's final at 3:00pm.

It was here two years ago that the juggernaut duo of Kerri Walsh and Long Beach State alum Misty May-Treanor won their final tournament before heading to the Beijing Olympics, where they brought home the gold. May-Treanor returns to our fair city, where she still lives, as a teammate of Nicole Branagh. The pair have not been as dominant as the Walsh/May-Treanor team that is the winningest in the history of the sport, but they'll be among the favorites this weekend.

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In the Senior Women’s Division, Summerside native Cherie Campbell and Carys Storey of New Brunswick took the title with two straight sets over the young Nova Scotia pairing of Hillary Monette and Meghan MacDougall with scores of 21-19 and 21-16. Campbell and Storey had gone 5-0 for the day and advanced to the finals with a close semifinal win over fellow New Brunswick team of Luba Andrushchenko and Louise Berube, 29-17 and 24-22. Monette and MacDougall had advanced over Islanders Rebecca Gill and Lynn Boudreau with a 2-1 win. Gill and Boudreau won the first 22-20, lost the second 21-17 and ran out of steam in the third with a 15-8 loss.

The under-18 women’s division was won by the Island team of Sydney Foy and Kelly Campbell from Cornwall, who could have played in the under-16 division. They went through round robin with a 3-1 record with only the top two teams advancing to the finals. Foy and Campbell defeated the one team they had lost to during the day, Jannine Bressmer and Dannielle Lapierre of Nova Scotia, with scores of 21-16 and 21-18.

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For anyone looking to perfect their tan lines and stay physically fit at the same time, this is your ticket. Beginning on July 14 until Aug. 29, all you need to do is show up at Island Lake Park, located on First Line in Mono, to learn beach volleyball first-hand with an instructor on Wednesday and Sunday evenings from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Sessions on Island Lake’s brand new beach volleyball court are free and open for anyone aged nine and up. Organizers ask you to bring running shoes and water. For more information, contact the Town of Mono’s recreation department at 519-941-3599, ex. 27.

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Starting tonight at 6 p.m., teams from as far as Ottawa will take part in the three-day Beach Blast volleyball tournament hosted at Loyalist Field off Main Street. With three categories (men's, women's and co-ed teams) the level of play is divided into two tiers.

Each team is made up of four players – rather than the usual two in beach volleyball and six in indoor volleyball – to make the game more exciting and accessible to all squad members. "Marking its 15th year of existence in Fredericton, the Beach Blast 2010 is again a sold-out event" said Shannon Haines, president of the Co-Ed Fredericton Volleyball League. "This event is made possible thanks to our sponsors and our many volunteers who donate their time to make this event a yearly success."

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Volleyball players from the Okanagan will represent the area at the B.C. Summer Games, both indoors and on the beach. Beach volleyball coach Paul Mend noted this year’s team is playing at a high calibre. Many of the players potentially could have made the indoor volleyball provincial team, but chose the beach version instead.

The game on the sand requires a move towards general all-round skills. Beach players need to be able to serve, set and spike. “You’ve got to be able to play all aspects of the game,” Mend said. He noted that on a two-person team, a player’s weaknesses can be glaring. This is the first venture to the Summer Games for most of the players, although some tackled the indoor version of the sport in previous years.

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After failing to keep their AVP semifinals streak alive Sunday, Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh believe there are still more to come in their budding partnership. The No.2 seeded tandem of May-Treanor and Branagh bowed down to No. 4 seed Angie Akers and Tyra Turner in straight sets (21-18, 22-20) Sunday, finishing in fifth place at the Hermosa Beach Open.

Sunday’s loss marked the first time the American tandem failed to reach an AVP semifinal this season, but the duo insisted it did not crush their will to get better. "We're going to be a very good team once we can put all the pieces together," May-Treanor told Universal Sports.com Sunday. "We have glimpses of doing fantastic things.

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The Epsom College girls’ and boys’ volleyball teams almost made it a winning double at last week's National Independent Schools’ Beach Volleyball Championships in Brighton. The girls retained the trophy they won at the inaugural tournament last year, while the boys finished runners-up.

Hosted by Brighton College, the tournament was played in glorious weather on the Yellowave beach courts on the Brighton seafront. Teams were made up of four players – rather than the usual two in beach volleyball and six in indoor volleyball – to make the game more accessible to all squad members.

In the preliminary rounds, Epsom's girls beat Brighton College, Reed’s, Farnborough B and Roedean, suffering just one defeat, to Lancing College. They topped their group and moved into the semi-final, where they met Farnborough A.

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