And they sizzled too.

That best describes the American and Canadian pairs who spiked and blocked their way to the top honours in the grand finals of the Sizzlin Sand Barbados Beach Bash at Brandons Beach last Sunday.

Defending 2004 Barbados Beach Bash Champions in the women's tournament, Karen Sutherland and Cindy Phillips made light work of their opponents from Trinidad and Tobago, Stephanie and Pauline Woodrofe, in straight sets 21-7, 21-11 to capture their second consecutive title and $US2 500 in prize money.

Defending 2004 men's champions Philippe Pignol and Robin Darchicourt did not have the dream final like Sutherland and Phillips.

Instead, they had to deal with the nightmare in the form of two six-foot, five-inch Americans who were intent on winning their first ever event outside of the United States.

Michael DiPiero and Steve Grotowski, who play their beach volleyball in Florida and who compete in the next AVP programme, battled with Pignol and Darchicourt to give the hundreds of fans a real treat, as both teams put on an excellent exibition of power hitting and deft placement.

DiPiero and Grotowski had no easy walkover as was the case in the women's match, as they had to battle tooth and nail to stave off the challenge of the Guadeloupe pair,

before earning their US$2 500 cheque.

In the end the scoreline read 21-16, 21-16 to DiPiero and Grotowski, but the pair from Guadeloupe played like the defending champions they were, and could be consoled by the fact that they were defeated by a more experienced and better team on the day. Their second-place finish was worth US$1 500.

Earlier in the day the pair of Lauren Whitehall and Sharon Bovell gave local fans lots to shout about as they took out the Guadeloupe pair of Melanie Deband and Marie Villa in straight sets 21-15, 21-16 to be the only Barbadian team among the prize honours.