
UPSETS HIGHLIGHT PLAY SATURDAY IN THE PAUL MITCHELL OPEN AT VIRGINIA
BEACH;AVP PRO BEACH VOLLEYBALL TOUR EVENT CONCLUDES SUNDAY
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. - The teams of Aaron Boss/Colin Smith,
Ian Clark/Adam
Jewell and Paul Baxter/Matt Fuerbringer
posted upset wins here Saturday (July
28) on the Sixth Avenue Beach to lead eight tandems into Sunday's final
rounds
of The Paul Mitchell Open at Virginia Beach.With many of the United
States' top men pro beach volleyball players vying for $62,500 in prize
money, The Paul Mitchell Open at Virginia Beach concludes Sunday on six
sand courts at the Sixth Street Beach site behind the Ramada Inn on Atlantic
Avenue.Sunday's competition starts at 8 a.m. (EDT) with the final 10 matches
being played. The final two matches will begin approximately at 1
p.m. Sunday. Brighton Entertainment of New York, N. Y., will be taping
The Paul Mitchell
Open at Virginia Beach action for replay August 6 on FOX Sports Net.
Seeded eighth in the 32-team Main Draw, Clark
and Jewell scored a 21-16 and
24-22 win over top-seeded Canyon Ceman and Mike Whitmarsh to advance
to
Sunday's final rounds with a 3-0 match mark. Boss and Smith also
won three
matches Saturday, including a 21-15 and 21-14 upset win over fourth-seeded
Scott Ayakatubby and Eduardo Bacil.Clark and
Jewell "spoiled" a celebration for Whitmarsh Saturday as theAssociation
of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Pro Beach Volleyball Tour veteran was
celebrating the five-year anniversary of his Silver Medal finish at the
1996 Atlanta Olympic Games with Mike Dodd.Baxter and Fuerbringer, who were
seeded 10th, scored a 22-20, 16-21 and 15-13 win over second-seeded Brent
Doble and Lee LeGrande. Doble and LeGrande have won the last two
Sundays (July 15 in Muskegon and July 22 in Belmar) on the AVP Pro Beach
Volleyball Tour. Doble and LeGrande had won their last 14 matches
before losing to Baxter and Fuerbringer.
Clark and Jewell challenge Boss and Smith
in Sunday's first match of the
winner's bracket. Albert Hannemann and Scott meet Baxter and
Fuerbringer in
the second winner's bracket semi-final. Baxter and Fuerbringer
are playing in
their first AVP Pro Beach Volleyball Tour event.The two crowns give
the Doble/LeGrande partnership three AVP titles the past two seasons.
Doble and LeGrande are seeking Sunday to become the first AVP team since
August 1998 to win three straight titles when Karch Kiraly and Adam Johnson
won events in Milwaukee, Atlanta and Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Also advancing to Sunday's play with 3-0 match mark was third-seeded
Albert
Hannemann/Sean Scott, who scored a 21-18 and 21-10 win over sixth-seeded
Nick
Hannemann and David Swatik. Albert Hannemann and Scott finished
second in
Belmar where they dropped the title match to Doble and LeGrande.
Four other teams will remain in contention for $14,000 first-place
prize
entering Sunday's opening elimination matches. Ceman and Whitmarsh
play
Ayakatubby and Bacil in the first elimination match while ninth-seeded
Scott
Davenport and Jeff Nygaard challenge Doble and LeGrande.Ayakatubby
and Bacil defeated Ceman and Whitmarsh in the finals of The Paul Mitchell
Open last month in Huntington Beach, Calif. Nygaard, a two-time indoor
Olympian for the United States, and Davenport will be looking for their
best career finish together after posting a seventh at Huntington Beach.