Lions beach volleyball courts seeing plenty of action

Written by Lion Bill Garland July 27/17

Westport Lions Beach Complex was the site of Westport’s 5^th annual Beach Volleyball tournament on Saturday. Eight very competitive teams bumped, slammed, blocked and dove for balls trying to inch their way towards the title of Westport Lions 2017 Beach Volleyball champion. The Lions Club was very impressed with the extremely high level of skill, competition and sportsmanship exhibited by all the players.

Thanks to all the teams and participants that made the 2017 event a huge success. Local teams Lyons Goodfellow Furniture, Donald Bump, Sand Lake Spikers and Hartless battled Kingston teams Muffin Men, Sun’s Out Buns Out and Ryatt Sunseekers and Kemptville team Outsiders providing fans with an excellent display of volleyball skills. The Sand Lake Spikers team was the emotional favourite. Kimberly Blaney’s family team from Sand Lake made up of teenagers and parents competing against seasoned club teams. Twelve year old “blondie” displayed lots of talent and determination!

All teams played 7 round robin games with Ryatt Sunseekers leading the way with 1 loss very closely followed by Hartless, Muffin Men and Sun’s Out Buns Out. The 28 round robin games produced very competitive battles game in game out. It became very evident that some very exciting volleyball was coming in the playoff round.

Muffin Men defeated Hartless and Ryatt Sunseekers defeated Sun’s Out Buns Out in very hard fought 3 game semi-final matches. Both matches featured long series of volleys and unbelievable feats of athleticism over hard fought points.

Ryatt Sunseekers outlasted Muffin Men in an extremely entertaining and hard fought 3 game final Match. Congratulations to Marben Espejo and his Kingston based Ryatt Sunseeker team for winning the Westport Lions Volleyball Championship for the 3^rd time.

The volleyball players expressed positive comments about the fantastic courts, the beautiful setting, the organization of the tournament, the great prizes for all participants and the audience support. Thanks to our generous sponsors that help make the event such a success. A big thanks to the spectators, beach goers and athletes for flawlessly sharing the beach facility and helping the Lions keep the property clean for all to enjoy.

Saturday’s event was the 2^nd beach volleyball tournament at Lions Beach this season as Rideau District High School held a high school tournament in early June. Ryatt Volleyball will hold a 3^rd tournament on August 12^th. With daily pick-up games the Lions Beach courts are being well used. We look forward to seeing everyone back for the 2018 tournament on July 21st next summer.

The Westport Lions Club Rock the Beach Volleyball Tournament Champions – Ryatt Sunseekers from Kingston. From left to right are Lindsay Burtch, Yannick Planke, Marben Espejo, and Clement Yun.