Crashers break into the win column…finally

The fourth time’s a charm for the Crashers who earned their first win of the 6th Annual Coors Light Four-Person Beach Volleyball League by downing the winless Yacchatta!! after taking two of three sets on Thursday night on the sand court at the Pacific Islands Club.

The win didn’t come easy for the previously winless Crashers, but it seemed as if they would run away with a victory when they cruised to an 11-2 bruising in the first set to take an early advantage.

Delusions of grandeur were quickly remedied in the second set when Yacchatta!! turned the tables on the Crashers to take their first set of the season with an identical 11-2 score following a team huddle in which they changed positions and strategy.

Team captain Paul Dujua had an answer for the adjustments, and set Scott Eck, Aleta Glaze, Leo Wania, and Stephen Stettenbenz onto the court with one goal in mind—to win their first game.

Dujua’s master plan worked wonders as the Crashers returned to the sand with a new sense of purpose, and overcame the Yacchatta!! momentum to take the third and final set, 11-6. At 1-3, the Crashers still have a ways to go if they want to vie for the top spot, but their inspired play might catapult them to greatness.

That’s exactly what happened to the Air Biscuits, as they bounced back from their opening game loss to the Small Hustlers back on Tuesday, May 3, to win their next four games to include Thursday night’s sweep of …But We Don’t Swallow.

Dale Roberts and company have wafted to within a half game of the undefeated crowd at 4-1, and are currently the top-scoring team in the league with 152 points, thanks in part to their overall score of 33-6 against the non-swallowers.

While the Biscuits are enjoying a string of success, Jay Worrall, Eric O’Malley, Jacquie Tessen, Kelley Butcher, Deb Garads, and the one-two punch of Ben and Lisa DeMoux are enjoying the suds and sand.

The L.L. Sleese Staks continued their quest for the best when they handed the Beach Side Rockers their second straight loss to improve their record to 4-0. After dropping the first set 11-3, captain Laurie Peterka and the Staks pack rebounded to take the next two in commanding fashion, 11-6 and 11-2.

With the win, the Sleese Staks are tied with Libweiirs!! for the best record in the league, but one of the two will have to lose next Thursday, May 26, when they go head-to-head in the opening match of the night at 5:30pm.

In keeping with the lose-early, win-late theme, Monkeys and Bananas notched their third win of the season by rebounding from an opening set loss to take the next two in the closest game of the night.

The Small Hustlers eked out a narrow two-point win in the first set when they edged the M and B dream team 11-9, but the match was knotted up at a set apiece when Nan Intharaluk took over to level the field 13-11. Jay Jay Lu and Jessica Shi were on hand as Monkeys and Bananas carried their momentum into the third set and clinched the win with a nail-biter that went into extra points, 13-11.

The Small Hustlers were once on course to be one of the top teams in the league, but a pair of losses has dropped them to the middle of the pack at 3-2, while Monkey and Bananas is a game behind the Air Biscuits at 3-1.