Beach Volleyball League heats up

With only two weeks left in the Asahi Four Person Beach Volleyball League, the battle to be in the top eight spots is heating up.

The top eight teams will have a chance to either move up one spot or drop one spot in the playoff round on April 12 at Pacific Islands Club. Four teams have three match victories and are only separated by games won or the second tie breaker, points allowed.

The picture at the top is much clearer, as Len’s Scrapshooters (10-0) sits all alone after beating Verizon Eggheads (9-1) on March 27. The Scrapshooters lost the first game of the match 11-6, and looked out of rhythm, but everything changed when Angie Mister played in the second game.

Mister showed some great defense and precision serving to lead her team to an 11-2 victory. The stage was then set for an epic third game. The Eggheads pulled out to an early 3-0 lead behind some nice hits from the Bangkok Bomber. Then the Scrapshooters showed why they are the team to beat. They adjusted to the Bomber by putting Jeff Calahan in the setter and blocking position, and the move paid off as Calahan came up with some big blocks.

The striking distance at 9-7. Then Dougie “Fresh Fish” Mauro hard-boiled them with some sizzling moon ball serves. The Scrapshooters won 11-7. These two teams look to be on track to meet again on April 12 in the battle for first place. “We talked a lot of trash before the game, but weren’t able to back it up. We are looking forward to a chance at redemption in the finals,” said Egghead manager, Jon Cramer.

The Scrapshooters had a slight scare in the next match as the MHS Dolphins (A) (3-5) took them to the third game after winning the first game 12-10. The Dolphins are in the midst of the logjam for seventh place and really could have used the victory to solidify their spot.

They weren’t able to pull off the upset as they fell behind early in the final game and lost 11-3. Although they lost the match, they helped themselves in the tie breaker standings by winning one of the three game.

The Dolphins next opponent, Abracadabra (8-2), is in sole possession of third place and can’t drop any lower than fourth, even if they lose their final match. T-8 Reef (7-3) is in fourth place, and has their playoff destiny in their hands as they face Team Anoba (3-5) on the final night of the regular season.

A loss could possibly drop them into fifth place behind the Mackay Boys (5-4) depending on games won and how the Mackay Boys do in their remaining two matches against Team Anoba and Dolphins(A). The Mackay Boys got a much-needed victory against Castaway Low Lifes (4-4) on Thursday.

It was a good confidence builder after a big loss to Abracadabra the week before. The return of team leader Mark Wilshire also makes them look strong going into the final stretch. Fans are welcome to come down and enjoy the final two weeks of the season on any Tuesday or Thursday between 6pm and 10pm at Pacific Islands Club.