Australian Beach Volleyball Tour at St Kilda

The 2003/2004 Peters Ice Cream Beach Volleyball Tour reached the shores of St Kilda for Round 3 on December 12-14. Australia's best beach volleyballers were on display, as the top teams look to find the form that will take them to next year's Olympic Games in Athens. And MU Renegades was well represented on court by Honours men's coach Steve Kay who teamed up with Heath McCleod in Friday's qualifying matches.

Moving closer to a berth at the Athens Games were Sydney Olympic champion Natalie Cook and her new partner Nicole Sanderson, with a hard-fought victory over Australia's number 2 pairing of Kylie Gerlic and Angela Clarke (21:13, 26:24). Cook and Sanderson beat Kerri Pottharst (now retired from international competition after winning gold with Cook at the Sydney Olympics) and Summer Lochowitz in the semi-final (21:11, 21:17). In the men's final, Josh Slack and Andrew Schacht defeated American wildcards Hans Spolfus and Chris McGill in straight sets (21:10, 21:16). The South Australian duo were easily too strong, establishing a big lead in the first set and never allowing the Americans back into the match.

On Friday, a Qualifying Tournament determined who would fill the last four places of the weekend's Main draw. Many of Victoria's top local teams competed in the double elimination tournament for the chance to play against Australia's best. Steve Kay and Heath McCleod paired up and enjoyed an excellent day on the sand with 5 wins, including a victory over the number 1 seeds. Unfortunately, they lost to Richard Coles and Michael Croxford who made it through to the semi-finals on Sunday and ended up fifth, narrowly missing out on a spot in the Main draw.

There were also some big upsets on the weekend, with the pairing of Paul Bourne and Allister Lyne defeating one of Australia's most experienced teams and Olympic representatives Julien Prosser and Mark Williams during the quarter finals (23:21, 18:21, 15:13). And earlier in the pool matches, Australia's Kerri Pottharst and Summer Lochowicz were defeated by Canadians, Sarah Maxwell and Maree Lessard.

The Peters Ice Cream Beach Volleyball Tour wraps up on the Gold Coast with Round 5 on January 24-26. Keep an eye on your local television guide for Channel 10's coverage of the Tour on Sunday afternoons.