WEEK 11

The Rockaway Beach Volleyball League’s streak of perfect weather ended on Wednesday night. Just when we thought we had seen the last of wind ball in Riis Park, Mother Nature erupted to let us know that she was still in charge. It definitely altered the game and put a premium on serving. The volleyball action on the courts decided playoff positioning and the party action at the Belle Harbor Yacht Club decided nothing, except who can have the best time. Every year this is the biggest and best celebration of the season. It’s the 10 year anniversary since the “Suns of Beaches” last won a sweatshirt and no one knows what to expect on Saturday. Hopefully, there will be champagne popping in the afternoon. The MVP this week is Aaron, a first time team member but a longtime friend of the team who was showing off in front of his mother. If anyone was wondering if Nick washed his volleyball socks, no he didn’t. I think it gave them a winning edge with the wind and the stench. They beat their rivals today 3-2 in a week where the winds were killer. The team was happy to present birthday girl Kaitlin with a win. Casino Auto Body played Federation in five closely contested matches. The night could have gone five – zero either way but Casino mounted a determined comeback in the fifth game to win 3-2. The serving of Brianne Johnston proved to be the edge that Casino needed. Ryan Ford made one circus dig after the other, calling to mind Barnum and Bailey. For the second week in a row, Joe McGivney led the league in attempted serves, not that easy into a roaring wind. The Stanii and Riis Park Bazaar had another great match with the Bazaar taking the match 4-1 but the games easily could have gone either way. The RBVL wants to thank everyone for their support this season.

The standings show several ties but tiebreakers have been applied and the teams are listed in their correct order. In the Moon Division Chicks to Go Island nosed out Rathbones for the regular season title by virtue of their 3-2 victory back on 6/22. Who was thinking first place in June? The Channimals beat Rogers Irish Setters twice by scores of 3-2, earning them 3^rd place and the Social Yachties ended up 5^th because of their 4-1 win over Boarders. The Sun Ray has the tightest grouping of any division in recent memory and the playoffs could go to any team. The IFMA’s gained 3^rd place via their 6-4 scores against the Cheese Fries. The Boardwalk top spot went to Atlantic Service Sandstorm because they beat the Rockaway Gliders 4-1 back on 7/6. In the Beach Breeze the Notorious D.I.G.’s edged Kerry Hills with a 3-2 win head-to-head. The last four spots in the Ocean Breeze Division were still not decided after reviewing head-to-head matchups. All were 5-5. That means the point differential in their 10 games would decide positioning. Playland beat Owney’s by11 points over their 10 games and Jameson’s beat Federation by 1 point over their 10 games. You read that right – one, lousy, stinking, missed serve point.

The NPS has notified the RBVL that if glass and alcohol show up on Saturday the RBVL will not get a permit for the playoffs next year. They will be going through the trash Saturday evening to check it out. Bag and pack as much garbage as you can and remove it from Riis Park. It can only help the cause. Losing teams should take down their nets if the nets are not going to be used again in another round of the playoffs. Help along the way will prevent us from taking down way too many nets later in the afternoon. Once again, a reminder for the playoffs tomorrow - make sure to lock your car doors in the Riis Park parking lot. Two of our players had credit cards stolen from their wallet which was left behind in their car last week and over $5,000 in fraudulent charges were rung up while they were playing ball on the beach. Someone else spotted people in the lot checking door handles, probably looking for other unlocked cars.

The RBVL 2016 Playoffs will be played by all divisions tomorrow (Saturday, August 13^th) at 10:30 a.m. sharp. 10:30 is both the start time and the forfeit time for game #1. Nets will be available for set up and practice at 9:30 a.m. and must be up by 10 a.m. Just as a reminder, when the matchup is 1 vs. 8, the 8 seed is the home team and responsible for setting up the net. So the lower seeds are stuck putting up the nets. It’s good to be the King (higher seed)! All matches are best of 5 games to 21 points – win by two points and no cap. Round 1 - 10:30 a.m.: 1^st place vs. 8^th place, 2^nd place vs. 7^th place, 3^rd place vs. 6^th place and 4^th place vs. 5^th place. Round 2 - 12:00 p.m.: 3^rd/6^th winner vs. 2^nd/7th winner and 4^th/5^th winner vs. 1^st/8^th winner. Round 3 - 2:00 p.m.: CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES. The Sun Ray Division has a slightly different schedule in that the top two teams in that division have a first round bye. In their round 1, 3^rd place plays 6^th place and 4^th place plays 5^th place. In round 2, the 3^rd/6^th winner plays the 2^nd place team and the 4^th/5^th winner plays the 1^st place team. Round 3 is the Championship. Captains are reminded that they can have team items entered in the weekly Wave article by showing up at the sponsor bar or by e-mailing Joe at jmcgivney2@nyc.rr.com by midnight on Wednesday night. If you are wondering why some teams get a lot of coverage it’s because they send over some items and we transform the ideas into literature. Amazing! The RBVL has a Facebook page and, if you like it, you will receive timely updates, whoever you are, captain or not. Your RBVL Committee members will be around each and every week to help out on any matters and answer your questions.

See you on the beach!