Brazil, Australia Advance to Saturday's Medal Rounds

NEW YORK, N. Y. - Teams from Brazil and Australia advanced to the medal round of the 1998 Goodwill Games women's beach volleyball competition here Friday (July 31) as the top two tandems from Group A of round-robin pool play.

Pauline Manser and Kerri Pottharst of Australia earned their spot Friday evening with a 15-8 win over Kristine Drakich and Guylaine Dumont of Canada.  The Aussies finished with a 2-1 Group A match mark with the Brazil's Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar posting a 3-0 record, including a 15-9 win Thursday over Manser and Pottharst.

Bede and Behar scored a 15-9 win over Karolyn Kirby (Brookline, Mass./San Diego) and Liz Masakayan (San Diego) Friday to finish round-robin play.  Kirby and Masakayan, the defending Goodwill Games champions after winning the title in 1994 at St. Petersburg, finish with a 1-2 mark in Group A while Drakich and Dumont were 0-3.

Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak of the United States have earned a spot in the medal round with a Group B-leading mark of 2-0 entering Friday's meeting with Maike Friedrichsen and Danja Musch of Germany at approximately 6:45 p.m. (EDT).

Laura Bruschini and Annamarie Solazzi of Italy, who finished Group B with  2-1 record, will advance to the medal round if Friedrichsen and Musch lose to Arce and McPeak. The Italians scored a 15-7 win Friday afternoon (July 31) win over Eva Celbova and Sona Dosoudilova of the Czech Republic.  The Germans must win to advance to the medal round and can be the top- seeded team from Group B with a win over 15-9 or better.

The medal and playoff rounds for the 1998 Goodwill Games start 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.