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Epic best describes the 9th annual BarryBob
Invitational. It was a day full of sun, great volleyball and a post
party that was off the charts. In the end, Chris Walmer, Kurt Peters,
Cory Newton and crowd favorite Jim Menges beat Scotty Lane, Joey
DelRiego, Lee Hoven-Bakos and Robi Hutas 15-7.
Announcer Jim Arico delivered some classic dialogue
for the spectators, while legends Tim Hovland, Gary Hooper and Steve
Obradovich were as entertaining as ever. The highlight of the day came
during a long rally in the finals. Hitter Chris Walmer found himself on
the ground, so Jim Menges, who had already dug two balls and made a
diving save on a third play came out of the back row and spiked a ball
cross court for the point. Menges raised his hands in triumph and the
crowd erupted. Jim Arico then starting singing a Jim Menges tune to the
theme music from Bonanza, a 1970s hit TV show. The beat caught on with
the crowd and the normally serious Menges finally cracked a smile and
started laughing and shaking his head. It was that kind of a day.
The women made their mark at the BarryBob this year as
well. Three plays stand out - two blocks by Nancy Mason on Sean Icaza
for points and the third and most entertaining by Carrie Dodd when she
roofed Owen McKibbin straight down for a point. Owen showed his
frustration by screaming out superlatives and ripped his shirt off.
As great as the day was, the BarryBob was not spared
from controversy. Randy Stoklos quietly picked up his stuff and left the
tournament right before his semi-final match, leaving his teammates out
in the cold. “We thought he was kidding when he said he was leaving”,
said teammates Nick Schneider and Brent Griebenow.
“Next thing we knew, he was gone”. “He didn’t say a word to us”
said tournament director Tim Walmer, “he just upped and left. We were
pretty sour for a bit after that”.
The sour taste didn’t last long as everyone regrouped
and took their “A game” to
Shellback Tavern for the best post party in BarryBob history.
People drank, sang, danced and pogoed into the wee
hours.
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