Women's Beach Action Opens - Top-Rated Brazilians Win - Defending Champs Defeated

NEW YORK, N. Y. - Top-seeded Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar of Brazil, the top- ranked team on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, scored a 15-1 Group A win over Kristine Drakich and Guylaine Dumont of Canada here Wednesday (July 29) in the third of four opening day matches in the 1998 Goodwill Games women's beach volleyball competition.

Second-seeded Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak of the United States play Laura Bruschini and Annamarie Solazzi of Italy in a Group B match at approximately 6:45 p.m. in the day's fourth and final match at Wollman Rink in Central Park.

Maike Friedrichsen and Danja Musch of Germany and Pauline Manser and Kerri Pottharst of Australia posted the opening women's beach volleyball wins of the 1998 Goodwill Games here Wednesday (July 29) at Wollman Rink in Central Park.

The Germans scored a 15-4 win over Eva Celbova and Sona Dosoudilova of the Czech Republic in a 22-minute Group B match before Manser and Pottharst earned a 15-10 win in 40-minutes over Karolyn Kirby (Brookline, Mass./San Diego) and Liz Masakayan (San Diego) of the United States.

Kirby and Masakayan, the 1994 Goodwill Games champions, trailed 6-0 and 10-2 in the match before scoring six-straight points to cut the deficit to 10-8.  The Americans trailed 12-10 before three Manser kills netted the Group A win.

The Brazil women will be seeking to add another Gold Medal to their country's 1998 Goodwill Games medal count.  In the men's beach play, Guilherme and Para netted Brazil's first Gold medal of the 1998 Goodwill Games last Sunday (July 26) by downing the United States' Adam Johnson and Karch Kiraly 12-11 and 12-4 in the finals.

Bede and Behar, who have won two of the four FIVB women's events this season, have been the dominate team on the international tour the past two seasons.  The Brazilians have shared $110,000 in earnings this season and earned $139,000 in 1997 season for nine events and two titles.  Bede and Behar also won two FIVB events in 1996.