SEATTLE, Wash. – The number one seeds dominated at the National Volleyball League Seattle Championships with Dave Palm & Eric Zaun and Brooke Niles & Karolina Sowala taking home titles. Both teams won straight matches in extreme weather conditions throughout the weekend to get into the finals on Sunday.
Coming off a victory at the Hermosa Beach Championships, Palm/Zaun won another hard-fought three game match going 21-18, 11-21, 16-14 over No. 7 seed Drew Mallin & Ryan Vandenburg. This is Palm’s third win in 2015, partnering with Mike Placek for the Panama City Beach Championships to defeat Erik Haddock and Roberto Rodriguez-Bertran.
Niles/Sowala conquered No. 2 seed and reigning women’s champions Vivian Cunha & Raquel Goncalves Ferreira, 10-21, 21-19, 15-10. Niles/Sowala opened the season with a win at the Panama City Beach Championships, defeating Cunha/Ferreira in a close two game match.
The tournament was held at Alki Beach from August 28-30 and featured top beach volleyball pros from around the world, including local Seattle players Deviny Mo and University of Washington commit Shayne McPherson, competing for a $75,000 prize purse. NVL hosted a free Clinic with the Pros on Sunday with more than 50 juniors participating. League partners Mikasa and Australian Gold were onsite throughout the weekend to hand out giveaways to fans.
The Seattle Championships center court matches will be available to view free on-demand at the NVL Network.
The Seattle Championships was the seventh of eight stops on the 2015 NVL tour. The season will conclude with the $100,000 Players Championships tournament at NVL Volleyball Academies/Club Med Sandpiper Bay in Port St. Lucie, Florida from September 25 – 27.
About National Volleyball League
Established in 2010, the NVL is a professional beach volleyball league built by players for all players, united in one mission: to create a sustainable future for pro beach volleyball in the U.S. Home to eight professional events in 2015, a grassroots series, and the Club Med NVL Beach Volleyball Academies, the NVL is the only national platform for current professionals and players of all levels to showcase their talents and pursue their aspirations in the sport. With sand volleyball now a sanctioned high school sport, the NCAA’s fastest-growing emerging sport in history with over 200 schools offering scholarships in 2016, the NVL is building the infrastructure for young players to achieve their dreams.
For more information about the NVL, please visit: www.thenvl.com, view the 2015 sizzle reel or follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. NVL’s VB Soul magazine may be viewed here.
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