Guardians of Volleyball are Champions of the Beach

The Champions - Guardians of Volleyball

Guardians of Volleyball outlasted One Hit Wonders in a thrilling three-set final to claim the title of the best team on the Al Muneera beach yesterday.  The Guardians were an unstoppable combination of CJ's sand crushing spikes, Cleo's phenomenal setting , Sam's precise attacking and Shahid's tireless defense.  The One Hit Wonders entered the final as the only perfect team and continued their unbeaten streak by winning the first set of the Championship match.  Samira, Carlos and Jon were on fire all day long and seemed to have an answer for everything the Guardians hit at them, but they couldn't hold on and eventually lost two sets to one.

The day was full of amazing volleyball featuring 41 matches between 12 teams playing in three round robin groups followed by a double elimination tournament.  There were big hits, big digs, loud cheers and lots of fun.

One Hit Wonders still able to strike a nice pose after a full day of volleyball

Group Stage

It all got started early with the Orange Group.  One Hit Wonders cruised through their group with some dominating scorelines, while the Lions squeaked out two close victories to end up second place in the group and earn a fourth seed in the tournament draw.  The unlucky Flying Camels and Samba had both dropped close matches to the Lions when they met.  Samba came our victorious in their match-up to claim third place in the group.

In the Green Group, Ya Dig went 3 - 0 with VTG and Smurfs tying for second in the group after playing to the tournaments first tie in a 10 - 10 thriller.  The Leaping Frogs came closest to knocking off Ya Dig (9-11), but ended up bottom of the group without a victory.

The Purple Group was the final group of the day.  It featured the eventual champions Guardians of Volleyball but the champs didn't have it all their way in the Purple Group.  In fact, this group featured many twists and turns and was the only group in which every team won at least one match.  The Narcoleptic Bananas got off to a fast start with an 11 - 9 victory over Doctors of the Beach, while the Guardians got past Beach, please! in their opener.  In the next two matches however, Doctors of the Beach demonstrated their amazing skill in a 10 - 10 draw against Guardians while Beach, please hit their stride and turned in the second most dominating performance of the group phase with a 16 - 4 win over the suddenly sleeping Narcoleptic Bananas.  Doctors of the Beach picked up a victory in a closely contested 11 - 9 match against Beach, please! while Guardians of Volleyball got by Narcoleptic Bananas.

The Brackets

There were no surprises in the first round with the higher seed prevailing in every match-up, but in the second round, Doctors of the Beach knocked  second seeded Ya Dig? into the Last Chance Bracket while moving on to quarter finals.  In the Last Chance Bracket everyone was fighting for their tournament lives, but VTG, Beach, please!, Smurfs and Ya Dig? lived to play another match while Samba, Flying Camels, Narcoleptic Bananas and Leaping Frogs had to say farewell.  

Back in the Main Bracket quarter finals, One Hit Wonders blasted past the Lions to book their place in the Championship Bracket while Guardians of Volleyball sent Doctors of the Beach into the Last Chance Bracket in a rematch of their Purple Group tie.

Six teams remained in the Last Chance Bracket fighting for the final two semifinal spots.  VTG made it through in the most dramatic fashion.  First they fought off several match points before beating Beach, please! 18 -16 and then they pushed the marathon even further in a 21 - 19 thriller against Doctors of the Beach.  Gerardo, Viswa and Thesa went through a major pressure test and proved they deserved a shot at the crown.  Ya Dig? emerged as the other semifinalist with victories over Smurfs and Lions.  Josh, Eliza and Greg liked their chances against the big hitters after coming together as a team for three straight must-win victories and a perfect run through the Last Chance Bracket.

In the semifinals, VTG and Ya Dig? both put on brave performances with some impressive blocking and digging against their heavy hitting opponents while managing to generate some effective attacks of their own.  But in the end, One Hit Wonders got past VTG and Guardians of the beach eliminated Ya Dig? setting up the exciting tournament finale.