New Zealand

Under extreme weather conditions, New Zealand’s top pair of Susan Blundell and Anna Scarlett won the second leg of the New Zealand Beach Volleyball Tour over the weekend in Wellington. In the finals they faced Australians Eliza Dean and Sarah Battaglene and emerged victorious 21-15, 21-12.

The tour culminates in Auckland Jan. 22-24, where the competition level is expected to stiffen as Beijing Olympic silver medalists Jia Tian and Fei Wang of China, fourth-ranked Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig of Germany, fifth-ranked AVP stars Angie Akers and Tyra Turner of the USA will head south of the equator to join Blundell and Scarlett in preparation for the upcoming AVP and FIVB seasons.

On the men’s side of the draw, New Zealand’s Edwin O’Dea and Brendon Heath defeated top-seeded Greg Lindsay-Brown and Sam O’Dea 25-23, 21-15 for the title. New Zealand’s No.1-ranked duo of Jason Lochhead and Kirk Pitman did not compete in Wellington but are expected to return for the rest of the tour.

Also joining them will be China’s Wei Liu and Zhi Feng Jiang, Germany’s Wendelin Winkelmueller and Lars Gobish, and Australians Aaron Crook/Adam Blackburn as well as Justin Feuerrigal/Sean Thomas.

NCAA Men

Tenth-ranked Ohio State, fifth-ranked Penn State and top-ranked USC joined12th-ranked Hawaii at the Stan Sherriff Center as the collegiate men’s indoor season kicked off this past weekend in Honolulu at the annual Outrigger Invitational.

Hawaii won the tournament by virtue of a ‘set differential’ tie-breaker after the Warriors, Trojans and Nittany Lions all finished with identical 2-1 records. In the final match, Hawaii defeated USC 30-21, 24-30, 30-28, 30-23 to take home the crown.

Overall results from the tournament:

--Jan. 7: USC defeated Penn State 30-28, 30-24, 30-24; Hawaii defeated Ohio State 30-20, 30-20, 30-26

--Jan. 8: USC defeated Ohio State 20-30, 30-28, 30-25, 30-14; Penn State defeated Hawaii 30-26, 26-30, 23-30, 30-28, 15-9

--Jan. 9: Penn State defeated Ohio State 30-16, 30-27, 24-30, 30-25; Hawaii defeated USC 30-21, 24-30, 30-28, 30-23

Note: Former AVP player Daniel Fisher is now first assistant coach with the Warriors, a team he represented as a collegiate athlete from 1994-1996 when they were still known as the Rainbow Warriors.

AVP Bowl Prediction Results

As you may recall, four AVP players last month picked winners for three bowl games. Joey Dykstra and Katie Olsovsky went 2-1 and Matt Olson went 1-2, while Lisa Rutledge went winless at 0-3.

Dykstra and Olsovsky, both from USC, picked Alabama to beat Texas for the national championship. Dykstra’s other correct pick was Florida over Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl; Olsovsky’s was USC over Boston College in the Emerald Bowl. Along with Rutledge, they wrongly predicted Oregon to beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

Olson called Penn State’s Capital One Bowl win over LSU. He and fellow former Arizona Wildcat Rutledge incorrectly had Texas over Alabama and Arizona over Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl.

In their 12 picks combined, the AVP athletes went 5-7. Not bad for some tough-to-predict games, but good thing they make a living off the gridiron!