Italians Upset Germans - Defending Champs Win - Brazilians & Arce/McPeak Unbeaten Teams

NEW YORK, N. Y. - Italians Laura Bruschini and Annamarie Solazzi scored an upset win over a German pair here Thursday (July 30) while the defending champions Karolyn Kirby and Liz Masakayan of the United States downed the Canadians to end the second day of women's beach volleyball play in the 1998 Goodwill Games.

The sixth-seeded Bruschini and Solazzi earned a 15-10 win over Germany's Maike Friedrichsen and Danja Musch of Germany in a Group B women's beach volleyball match at Wollman Rink in Central Park to start Thursday's evening session.

Bruschini and Solazzi are now tied with the third-seeded Germans in the Group B standings as both teams have an 1-1 record.  Friedrichsen and Musch have the point-differential edge (first tie-breaker) at plus-six points.  The Italians are minus-six after winning Thursday's 37-minute match with their European rivals.

Kirby (Brookline, Mass./San Diego) and Masakayan (San Diego), the defending Goodwill Games champions after winning the title in 1994 at St. Petersburg, Russia, scored a 15-5 win over Kristine Drakich and Guylaine Dumont of Canada in a 34-minute Group A win in Thursday's fourth and final match.

Kirby and Masakayan, who are now tied for second in Group A with Australians Pauline Manser and Kerri Pottharst with 1-1 marks, play top-seeded Brazilians Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar Friday at approximately 1:15 p.m. (EDT).

The Brazilians and the United States tandem of Lisa Arce/Holly McPeak are the only unbeaten teams in the 1998 Goodwill Games women's beach volleyball competition after winning Thursday afternoon matches.  Manser and Pottharst dropped a 15-9 decision to Bede and Behar in a 39-minute Group A match.  The Brazilians broke a 3-3 tie to take a 12-3 lead enroute to their second win of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event.

The second-seeded Arce and McPeak, who both reside in Manhattan Beach, Calif., scored a 15-9 win over Eva Celbova and Sona Dosoudilova of the Czech Republic in a 40-minute Group B match to end Thursday's afternoon session.  Arce and McPeak play Friedrichsen and Musch at 6:45 p.m. in the final Group B contest.

The medal and playoff rounds for the 1998 Goodwill Games starts Saturday with matches scheduled for 12 p.m., 1:15 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.  The competition ends Sunday with the Bronze and Gold medal matches starting at 12 p.m. in the $100,000 event.  Sunday's Gold medal team will share the $30,000 first-place prize.