Laurie Achin goes for a lob over the net in her match on the sands. (Photo by Jason Chiou)
Three beach volleyball teams advance, one out of GamesBruning sky-ball serve continues to fluster opponentsby Leila Hanaumi on September 10, 2009 While one U.S. Men's Beach Volleyball team soars higher on the sands of Taiwan, the other sinks, and the women struggle to keep afloat. Ranked number one in their pool, Mike Bruning and Dimitri Nikiforov had another effortless victory in the rain Thursday against Italy. Bruning, now a crowd favorite, resumed using the sky-ball serve that rattled previous opposing teams and succeeded in flustering the floundering Italians. The move had the audience gasping and giggling — a volunteer even imitated Bruning’s serve. Even after Italy called a time-out, Bruning attempted the unusual serve once more, but the ball landed outside the lines. “I was mad at myself for showing that weakness, but I love challenging myself like that,” Bruning said. Nikiforov’s sharp serves were just as hard to take. Sand and raindrops flew from the receiver’s arms as Nikiforov made his jump serves, and Italy soon became visibly frustrated with their inability to throw off the U.S. Bruning appeared to enjoy the match, chuckling at a beautiful play, while the stoic Nikiforov barely raised an eyebrow once. The duo won both games, 21-11 and 21-7, respectively. Bruning and Nikiforov “are incredibly skillful!” American Tae Kwon Do fighter and spectator Roman Nawrocki commented. “Those who didn’t come to the match today definitely missed out.” The duo’s easy win helped convince Coach Said Soukiane that Bruning and Nikiforov would end up in the top four teams, he said. Meanwhile, the other U.S. Beach Volleyball teams had a tougher time tackling their matches. Steve Haynie and Josh Malasheskie had their fourth and final loss to Chinese Taipei, 2-0, and no longer are a competing team in the Deaflympics. “I’m fine. In fact, I want to play some more beach volleyball right now!” Haynie said, after the pair failed to qualify for the 16-team playoffs. A disappointed Malasheskie said he recognized their greatest weakness: confidence in their playing. However, he and Haynie are eager to root on the other teams potentially going into the finals. The U.S. women continue to struggle with their injuries. Stacy Nikiforov currently is the only injury-free female player; her partner, Laurie Achin, had lower back pains from her fall in Wednesday’s match. However, during her game against Israel, Achin boldly told Nikiforov on the court, “I’ve got guts.” Despite her injury, Achin continued playing to the most of her physical ability from the start until she arched her back as she watched Israel spike their losing hit outside the line. Achin and Nikiforov defeated Israel, 2-0. “My back’s killing me,” Achin groaned afterwards. “But my mentality is how I survived.” The other female duo, Jessica Ensign and Nancy Moore, also struggled with injuries. While Ensign suffered from an old knee, back and hip combination injury, Moore struggled to overcome her first hamstring pull. They appeared to do well in the first game, winning, 21-18, against Estonia, but their sound performance declined. When Ensign and Moore seemed to let their frustrations get the best of them, they stopped controlling the ball and lost the next two games. However, they are not out of the pool, due to their earlier win against Israel. Both women’s team’s opponents and game times were to be determined at a drawing later Thursday. Bruning and Nikiforov will face Greece at 1 p.m. Friday. |
 Laurie Achin goes for a lob over the net in her match on the sands. (Photo by Jason Chiou)
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