Adult Nationals 2005 - Denver Colorado
May 28-June 4th

Rustys 55's

Rustys 55’s finish 5^th in 2005 Adult US Open Championships in Denver

 The Rustys 55’s team from the Columbia Empire Volleyball Association finished well above their initial seeding in the 2005 US Open held in Denver.

 The 55’s age bracket was represented by 23 teams from around the country and included one team from Canada and one from Brazil.  The division was split into 4 pools during pool play with Rustys being seeded last in a pool of 5 teams.

 The Rustys team was represented by Jim Dennison, Dick Ellegood, Michael Fagans, Scott Haney, Jerry Kissick, Gary Pfingsten, Ed Tamas, and Dick Webster,

 Play began on a good note with Rustys winning the first game of the first match of pool play against the Canadian Fog team 25-23, but changed quickly by losing the next two, 21-25 and 11-15, to drop the match. 

 The second match of the day was against the 1^st seed in the pool and the 4^th seed overall, Roof 55’s.  Rustys was not up to the size of the Roof team and dropped the match in 2 games.

 The second day brought better play and better results as the Rustys team defeated the Chicago based team Papakoa by 25-18 and 25-22, and Divers 55’s by 25-20 and 25-17.

The results of the 2 days were compiled and Rustys earned the third spot in their pool and was slated for a single match against a 5^th place team from another pool as a decider as to which team went up into the Gold bracket and which went down into the Silver bracket.  Rustys won the match easily against their competitor and moved into the Gold bracket double elimination play.

As luck would have it the first draw in bracket play was against perennial favorite, Quiksilver Legends.  The Legends is a big team made up of very capable players and a large reserve on the bench, but Rustys blocked, attacked and defended well to defeat them in game one by 25-16, shocking the Legends squad and delighting the crowd gathered to watch the match.  Not rolling over, the Legends team rallied to win the second game 17-25, setting the stage for an exciting game three wherein the lead flipped back and forth until Rustys came out on top 16-14, sending the Legends team into the loser’s bracket.

 The second match in bracket play was against the Texas Masters.  The Texas Masters team was beefed up a little from what it has been in the past and defeated Rustys in 3 games, sending Rustys into the loser’s bracket.

In the loser’s bracket Rustys defeated Papakoa again in 3 games and Colorado Masters in 3 games to earn the right to again face 4^th overall seed, Roof 55’s.  Having lost to them in the pool play Rustys was hopeful of a better result.  However, the Roof team was too deep and too big and too fresh to be overcome by the fatigued Rustys squad and the match was lost in 2 games to result in a 5^th place finish behind 1^st place Brazil, 2^nd place King’s Mountain Fog, 3^rd place Roof 55’s and 4^th place Fog Canada Masters.

Front Row Left to right: Ed Tamas, Gary Pfingsten, Jerry Kissick, Scott Haney. 
Back row left to right: Michael Fagans, Dick Ellegood, Jim Dennison, Dick Webster.