Beach Volleyball Ireland

 

Event 6 - 26th July Portmarnock, Co. Dublin

After two cancelled events in Portmarnock the sun was splitting the trees as we took to the beach for the sixth event of the calendar. With 17 teams entering and plenty of sun lotion on we got underway. Many of the pool games ended close one even going to 31 - 29, this ensured many tough draws in the elimination stage.

As the afternoon drew to a close and after many tough games, some with miraculous comebacks, we were left with two teams in the final, they were:

Magyars: Hajnalka Domain & Zoltan Fenes

Heineken: Bea Gerevich & Janusz Stolarek

Winners: Heineken

Thanks again to all the teams that took part and we hope to see you all at the next event in Inchydoney, Co. Cork.

Event 5 - 12th July Kilmuckridge, Co. Wexford

It was third time lucky for Kilmuckridge as after two cancelled events we finally got to play some beach volleyball!

There was a great turn out for the men's section with 15 teams entering and also 9 teams competing in the women's section.

With the Groups stages complete the Double Elimination started, with some very strong pairings some of the matches were extremely competitive and resulted in many passers by stopping for the afternoon to watch the drama unfold.

With teams dropping out we were eventually left with:

Men

Huh?: Jonathan Whitty & Odhrain O'Braonain

Cbphoto.ie: Slawomir Wrzesniak & Marek Majtyka

Women's

A-Z: Alexandra Romanova & Zdenka Reichertova

Cbphoto.ie: Lina Klimkeviciute & Erin Dohm

Winners

Huh?(Men's) & A-Z (Women's)

Thanks again to all the teams that made the journey to Kilmuckridge, we now have a week off due to the Coca Cola Beach Volleyball Festival in Bray. The next event is on the 26th July in Portmarnock, so keep your fingers crossed for no freak tides and also for glorious sunshine.

 

Event 4 - 5th July Portmarnock, Co. Dublin

Due to some very bad luck with a change of venue at short notice and a freak tide time table this event was abandoned during play.

Event 3 - Portmarnock, Co. Dublin

Unfortunatley due to very poor weather conditions this event was cancelled.

Event 2 - 14th June Ballybunion, Co. Kerry

The second Outdoor Circuit Event this year was in the picturesque setting of Ballybunion beach in the kingdom of Kerry. After last year's event that was a complete wash out fingers and toes were crossed that the weather would hold out for us..... and it certainly did! Not only was the weather perfect we had a great turn out in the men's competition, with 12 teams taking part ( only 6 took part last year).

With the sun in the eyes and sun tan lotion on the players took to the courts. Once the group stages were completed the Double Elimination Stage started. After some marathon games and some very good volleyball on dislay we were left with 4 teams fighting it out for the Women's & Men's titles respectivley:

Men

Huh?: Jonathan Whitty & Odhrain O'Braonain

Jets: Markus Hahnel & Janusz Stolarek

Women's

Ladybirds: Julia Juetner & Zdenka Reichertova

Cbphoto.ie: Lina Klimkeviciute & Katerina Mrackova

Winners

Huh?(Men's) & Cbphoto.ie (Women's)

 

A huge thank you again to all the teams that travelled to Ballybunion, and lets keep the weather on a roll and head on down to Portmarnock, Co. Dublin for the next event on 21st June for a 2v2 Mixed Event.

Event 1 - 31st May Herbert Park, Co. Dublin.

On Saturday the Outdoor Circuit got under way at Herbert Park, Co. Dublin. After a last minute change of plan, the stand in venue proved to be a great move due to weather and also spectator numbers.

On one of the sunniest days of the year so far, 20 teams took part in this seasons opener and it proved to be really competitive tournament. During the group stages Group B was deemed to be the toughest group with 8 of the 12 players in the group being ranked in the top 10 rankings last year.

With the group stages complete, the Double Elimination Section got under way, with many tough games being played out in the glorious sunshine. The level of volleyball was exceptionally high throughout the tournament, which is outstanding when some of the teams played nearly 12 games in over 25 degrees celsius.

After nearly 5 hours of playing we were left with two teams fighting it out to be crowned champions of the first event. The teams were:

Cbphoto.ie - Slawomir Wrzesniak, Marek Majtyka, Erin Dohm

Trappa-Antos - Matteo Sbrolla, Benny O'Regan, Marta Murano

Unfortunatley there could only be one winner and this years victors at Herbert Park, Co. Dublin were Cbphoto.ie.

A big thank you must go to all the participating teams who made the first event this year so successfull, we all hope to see a similar turn out at our next event; Ballybunion, Co. Kerry on 14th June.

 

 

Fanore, Co Clare

For the 5th Outdoor Event of the calender we were all surprised to see the sun basking the picturesque setting of Fanore. With another good turnout; 12 Men's & 6 Women's teams taking part, we were treated to excellent conditions and a number of spectators throughout the day including the local press, The Clare Champion.

As the tournament progressed and with peoples faces getting quite red (I think this was the sun!) we were left with 4 teams fighting it out for the titles in Fanore:

Men

Cheque Republic: Jonathan Whitty & Odhrain O'Braonain

Graiggus: Markus Hahnel & Graig Charbonnel

Women's

White Chicks: Siv Vestre & Veronica Poggi

cbphoto.ie: Lina Klimkeviciute & Katerina Mrackova

Winners

Cheque Republic (Men's) & cbphoto.ie (Women's)

With some first class volleyball being played in the finals and with the sun setting in the distance the finals reached a climax with Cheque Republic & Cb Photo running out eventual winners. A huge thanks must be said to everyone that attended and we hope to see you all again at the next event which brings us back to Portmarnock on the 28th July, lets hope the tide stays away this time.

Photgraphs of Fanore will be posted soon

Kilmuckridge, Co Wexford

Yet again we had a solid turn out for the 4th event of the season; we had a total of 22 teams in total participating; 13 Men’s & 9 Women’s.

Finally the weather picked up for the event and the rain was kept away only to appear in small showers.  Once the pool matches were finished the Double Elimination Stage started and threw up a number of interesting knockout matches, with a number of the stronger teams meeting in the early stages.

As the Semi-Finals finished we were left with 4 teams fighting it out for the Kilmuckridge titles, the teams were:

Mens

High Tide: Jonathan Whitty & Markus Hahnel
Be Ivers: Alex Gibbons & Ivars Kzerberis

Womens

Yankee Chicks: Megan Burgdorf & Katrina Polaski
cbphoto.ie: Lina Klimkeviciute & Katerina Mrackova

Winners

High tide(Men's) & Yankee Chicks(Women's)

We were all treated to some very exciting volleyball in the two finals and both were tightly contested with High Tide & Yankee Chicks the eventual winners of both categories.
 
Congratulation to the winners and we hope to see you all at the next stage of the Beach Tour which leads us to the west coast in Fanore Co Clare on 7th July.

Here are some photo's from Kilmuckridge, click on the thumbnail to view larger image.

 

Portmarnock, Co Dublin

A great turnout on Saturday brought a total number of 24 teams to compete for the mixed title. Unfortunatley the sea didn't have the same script that we had, and due to unforseen circumstances (the tide coming in) the event had to be cancelled.

We hope that for the next event, Kilmuckridge on Saturday 23rd June, that the weather and tide can be kept at bay for another great turn out, keep our fingers and toes crossed.

 

Ballybunion, Co Kerry

As the second event got under way this year we were hoping for an improvement in weather conditions and alas we were disappointed; although this did not turn away the competitors, we had 7 women’s teams and 6 men’s teams competing it out for the Ballybunion titles.

To say it rained from start to finish would be an understatement although the previously mocked VAI Gazebo soon showed its value as everyone (including the local pets) appeared to seek shelter there.
 
The tournament followed the regular schedule of pool games to start with then followed by the double elimination stage.  As the tournament wore on we were left with in the women’s section: C&A, cbphoto.ie, Wildcats & No Name; for the men’s section the semi finalists were: cbphoto.ie, East, Spuddy & Sand

As the games progressed and with the tide closing in on the courts the finalists for both sections were:

Women

C&A: Ciara Buckley, Amy O’Shea

cbphoto.ie: Lina Klimkeviciute, Katerina Mrackova

Men

cbphoto.ie: Daniel Apanowicz, Slawomir Wrzesniak

East: Dariusz Skrzecinski, Ivar Dreifeldt

Winners

C&A(women’s) and cbphoto.ie (men’s).

A huge thanks must be said to everyone that attended the event and braved the poor elements, and we hope to see you all at Portmarnock on the 16th June.

Here are some photo's from Ballybunion, click on the thumbnail to view larger image.

 

Pheonix Park, Co Dublin

The first event of the Beach Outdoor Circuit Tour kicked off on Sat 26th May. There was an excellent turn out for the opening event with a total of 22 teams taking part, with a wide spectrum of players attending, from beginners to Premier League Champions.

The weather held off for most of the tournament with the players playing from 11am untill 4pm and amazingly avoided any serious downpour. After the Group stages the Knockout Stage began with a number of interesting match ups being played.

As the tournament progressed we were left with 4 teams playing it out for the 2 final places. Those final 2 places were eventually filled by Ivars Team - Alex Gibbons, Lien Billiet & Ivars Kzerberis; and Abra - Leanne Dignam, Mark Nolan & Jacob Szparag.

As the final got under way the weather began to turn for the worst and although weather conditions did not help the players they definatley rose to the occasion and did not let this ruin their final. Ivars Team eventually ran out winners in a close match and took the title for Pheonix Park.

Fingers crossed that we have the same turn out for Ballybunion Co. Kerry on Saturday and that the weather will have a more of a Summer feel to it!!