Czech Republic Nets 7th - Saturday's Medal Semi-Finals Next at Wollman Rink

NEW YORK, N. Y. - Eva Celbova and Sona Dosoudilova of the Czech Republic netted seventh-place here Saturday (August 1) in the 1998 Goodwill Games women's beach volleyball competition by rallying to defeat Canadians Kristine Drakich and Guylaine Dumont 16-14.

The playoff match opened Saturday's play at Wollman Rink in Central Park.  The next two matches feature medal round semi-finals meetings pitting the United States against Australia and Brazil versus Italy as the final four women's beach volleyball teams battle for a berth in Sunday's 1998 Goodwill Games Gold medal match.

The first of two medal semi-final matches will be played at approximately 1:15 p.m. on nearly 1,000,000 pounds of Wollman Rink sand Saturday.   Second-seeded Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak of the United States (both from Manhattan Beach, Calif.) face fifth-seeded Pauline Manser and Kerri Pottharst of Australia in the first semi-final match.

Top-seeded Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar, the No.1-ranked team on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, are challenged at 4:30 p.m. Saturday by seventh-seeded Laura Bruschini and Annamarie Solazzi of Italy, who earned their first final four berth ever in a FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event.

Both the tandems of Bede/Behar (Group A) and Arce/McPeak (Group B) advanced to the medal round by posting 3-0 match records in round-robin pool play.  The Aussies (Group A) and the Italians (Group A) both posted 2-1 pool play marks.

Saturday's final match is a playoff match for fifth-place between fifth-seeded Karolyn Kirby (Brookline, Mass./San Diego) and Liz Masakayan (San Diego), who won the inaugural women's Goodwill Games beach volleyball title in 1994 at St. Petersburg, and third-seeded Maike Friedrichsen and Danja Musch of Germany for fifth-place.  Both teams finished with 1-2 mark in pool play.

The 1998 Goodwill Games women's beach volleyball competition ends Sunday at Wollman Rink with the Bronze and Gold medal matches starting at 12 p.m. in the $100,000 FIVB- sanctioned event. Sunday's Gold medal team will share the $30,000 first-place prize.  All four medal matches feature the FIVB's Format B with two out of three sets to 12 points.  The first two sets must be won with a minimum lead of two points with a point limit at 12-point cap.  The deciding set will feature the rally scoring system to 12 points with a minimum lead of two points.  There is no point cap for the deciding set.

All eight Goodwill Games teams head to Japan for next week's (August 5-9) FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour event in Osaka.  The FIVB tour remains in Asia for a China stop August 12-16 in Dalian. The United States women return home for the $100,000 Del Mar Open near San Diego, Calif., August 28-30.  The domestic event will be the inaugural event staged by the newly- created American Volleyball League formed by the Trident Media Group of Carlsbad, Calif.