19 June 2005

Another third in California
 
Just one week after taking third in the Santa Barbara EVP, British beach volleyball team Debbie Spokes and Hedda Meijer took another third in their biggest EVP tournament yet.

The pair faced a tough day in the blazing California sunshine at the 22 team double elimination tournament at Hermosa Beach. With last weekends injuries taped up, and plenty of sun cream, they took their first game in straight sets, 2 - 0.

Then they came up against the number four seeds and last year's EVP player of the year. In a  tough match, they lost in the third set by just two points placing them in the contenders bracket where they had to win all their matches for a chance to make it into the final.

In the first game, they beat fellow English players, Kerri Olding and Lucy Bolton and powered through the following two games to place them in the semi final where they found themselves up against up against the same team they lost to in the earlier round. Said Debbie: "We were up for revenge, but it was not to be. We needed to be more powerful at the net and we just could not put the ball away accurately enough, even with Hedda's awesome hitting strength".

The team came away with another third place finish and now have two weeks hard training before their next competition, the Californian Beach Volleyball Association women's open at Santa Monica.

ends

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Debbie Spokes and Hedda Meijer aim to represent Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics and are California for six months training with leading coaches and to improve their skill playing some the worlds top beach volleyball players.