Linda Byington reports from The Motherlode

Brenda Whicker and I traveled to Aspen to play in The Motherlode on Labor Day weekend. We were seeded 26th out of 34 teams in Women's Open, even with our AVP Next points earned this year at Wasatch Beach. As a result, our first match was with the 7th seed. It was a close match but we lost 22-20 in the second game. That put us in the contender's bracket where we won several matches to earn 9th place and $300.

This was the strongest pool of teams I've seen at The Motherlode. One of the girls who won it last year (and who trains full time with her partner) placed 13th. Before the AVP cancelled the remainder of the season, The Motherlode was positioned as an AVP Qualifier, and the guaranteed prize money was much better than in previous years. After the AVP's decision, additional teams registered because this became one of the premier events remaining this year. The result of all this was a huge draw for all divisions. Credit to Paul Mitchell for stepping up to underwrite the prize money that had previously been promised by the AVP.

The weekened in Aspen at The Motherlode was really fun in part because of all the other players who were there from Wasatch Beach. Jenny and Andrea played A - they came out of their pool and placed well. Brad Collins and Matt Gordon played Open. Diane Gordon played with a girl from Chicago who was in the Barefoot Wine National Championships at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee. Speaking of the Barefoot tourney, there were a ton of teams in The Motherlode who had also played Barefoot. Shane and another Men's B player played. Casey Patterson played Open with Ty Loomis and Joe Hillman came down just for the party. We all supported each other and cheered each other on whenever we weren't playing.

The Motherlode drew a lot of fans as well as teams. In fact, we played in front of several hundred fans for most of our matches. All in all, The Motherlode was a great Labor Day Weekend event and trip.

Great day at Bradford Beach for the Barefoot finals

It was a picture-perfect day at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee for the 2010 Barefoot Wine National Championships. This tourney brought together women's and men's teams from 24 local Barefoot leagues and tourneys. Teams traveled from as far as Hawaii to compete.

Check the gallery on wasatchbeachvolleyball.com for some pics from the event that will give you a sense of the environment at this great tourney. As you will see, it was very much a family affair for the Utah teams.

WBV was well-represented by Brenda and Nina and Jared and Matt. Brenda and Nina improved on their 2009 Barefoot Finals by winning their first match before falling to the number one seed from San Diego, the eventual winners on the women's side. Jared and Matt lost their first round match in two long games. While Jared and Matt didn't win the event (I know, I promised I would tell everyone that you did), Jared's hilarious trash talk established them as fan favorites.

All of the players were left wanting to play more. It would be great to see Barefoot modify the format to create a Contender's bracket so that teams would be guaranteed at least two matches.

WBV alum Mike Nelson, and his partner Lucas Black, went into the tourney seeded 4th. They advanced to the semis where they lost to the top seeds, again from San Diego, who went on to lose to the team from Austin, Texas.

Oh yeah, then there was the opportunity to watch the teams of Kerri Walsh and Rachel Wacholder and Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers. This was Kerri's first tourney appearance since the birth of their second child. Phil and Todd basically put on an exhibition in their match with the men's winners.

All the players were impressed with the sand, the setting, facilities and operations at Bradford Beach. Kudos to Todd and Joel at Bradford who stepped up in a big way to host this event after the cancellation of the Chicago AVP Tour Stop.