Beach Medals in PEI
Gold medal winning embrace
Reid Hall and Adam Podstawka have been playing together since they first spiked a ball, unique in a sport where switching partners is far from uncommon.
The Ontario twosome capped their flawless week with a gold medal Friday in men’s beach volleyball at the Canada Summer Games, a fitting finale for the longtime friends and teammates.
“They’ve played together for a long time and that cohesion and teamwork says a lot about their game and that’s helped them push through and have a successful season and a successful week,” said coach Jason Hubbard.
Hall, from Georgetown, Ont., and Adam Podstawka, from Ancaster, Ont., went undefeated through the tournament at Credit Union Place, en route to beating Quebec duo Emmanuel Andre-Morin of Montreal and Karl De Grandpre of Pierreville, 21-14, 21-18.
Hall and Podstawka started playing beach volleyball together when they were 12, and with the exception of last season, when Podstawka was injured, have played together every season.
“We’re both currently living near (Toronto’s) York University, and we actually live right across the street from each other just off campus,” Hall said. “We see each other every day, we hang out, eat sushi, play waddies (a college game that’s a cross between curling and horseshoes).”
The pair made Friday’s win look easy, and credited their coach for mapping out the perfect gameplan. All of Quebec’s shots from previous games were charted, so the two knew their tendencies. Offensively, they keyed on Andre-Morin.
“We wanted to put the pressure all on one,” said Hall. “If you spread the pressure amongst the two of them, they can kind of feed off each other, but if you put it all on one person, it’s a lot to handle.”
The two played indoor volleyball together for York – Hall still does, while Podstawka trains soley for the outdoor version. Both say the beach version is a completely different game, and not because of the blaring rock music and bared skin.
“Beach volleyball’s completely different because you don’t have other players to hide behind,” Hall said. “There’s only two of you, so you have to be good at everything. In beach, you have to be good at hitting, passing, defence, blocking. You have to be good at everything.”
Hall and Podstawka will now head home to play in next week’s Canadian beach volleyball championships in Toronto where they hope to medal.
Ontario’s Dianne Burrows of Richmond Hill and Caleigh Whitaker of Sharon weathered a first-set scare to defeat Manitoba in straight sets to capture bronze, beating Manitoba’s Rachel Cockrell of Winnipeg and Chloe Reimer of Sanford. After leading most of the way, the Team Ontario tandem trailed 20-19 in the first set before mounting a comeback to win the match 22-20, 21-12.
Whitaker will now prepare for the world beach volleyball U19 championships to be held in September in Blackpool, England.
By Lori Ewing (CP)
