This weekend saw the 3rd Annual Riverside Museum Beach Masters 
event taking place in Glasgow.
The day was all set up fantastically by the events staff at the Riverside Museum and we had the young talent of Connor Boyle as announcer for the day which really improved the overall audience participation.
The Women’s teams turned up early and we were all set for the day’s play. Scottish Volleyball was gifted new beach kits from a Spanish Company called Geff. The kits were fantastic and really added to the level of professionalism of the event.
First match saw GB Women’s captain Lynne Beattie take to the sand with her partner Laura McReady to take on Agata Zaremba and Gillian Lyall. The experience and tactical awareness from Lyall really helped her team win the match 2-0 21-19, 21-15.
No rest for the wicked for Beattie/McReady as they were back on court against Cathy Smy and Lilian Lieber. The first set was outstanding and both teams showed a really high level of beach play. Beattie/McReady had a swing for the first set, however the ball went long. Smy/Lieber recovered from this to win the first set 24-22 and then moved on to take the 2nd set 21-16, and set up a winner takes all match with Lyall/Zaremba.
The ‘final’ went down to the wire with both teams trading blows in the first 2 sets. Smy/Lieber won the first set 24-22 only to be pinned back 21-19 in the 2nd. Smy/Lieber lifted their game to win the 3rd set and claim the Riverside Masters title. Cathy Smy has never lost on the sand at Riverside and will be determined to keep hold of her title next season.
The Men’s event started intensely with the team of McGuigan/Riddle facing off against McKeown/Macnab. Both teams didn’t get a hold of the match until the Technical Time out when McGuigan/Riddle started to find their rhythm. After this, they pushed through to the end of the set to win 21-16. With a similar scoreline in Set 2, McGuigan/Riddle picked up their first victory on Riverside court.
McKeown/Macnab faced off against Chudzik/Sobieracki in their last attempt to win the title. The Polish team started off slowly and didn’t find their momentum until the middle of the set. Once they found this, McKeown/Macnab struggled to contain them and went down 22-20. The 2nd set was more straight forward for Chudzil/Sobieracki 
with a 21-15 win and again setting up a ‘final’ with McGuigan/Riddle.
Both teams were ready for this but McGuigan/Riddle showed their experience on the beach, together with their quality, by ensuring the Polish pair couldn’t cope with the level of play they were able to achieve. They team from City of Edinburgh won the match 2-0 (21-14, 21-10) and took home their first Riverside Masters title to go with their 2 tour wins already this season.
The event was fantastic, the weather was fantastic, and the enthusiasm on and around the court was special. I am certainly looking forward to next year’s event and making this bigger and better.
You can view images of the Men’s and Women’s Competition on the Scottish Volleyball Website.