York University Lions men’s volleyball player Reid Hall and former Lion Adam Podstawka won the beach volleyball gold medal at the Canada Summer Games in Charlottetown, PEI, on Friday, Aug. 21.
Hall, from Georgetown, Ont., and Podstawka, of Ancaster, Ont., are students in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science in York’s Faculty of Health. They defeated the Quebec duo of Karl DeGrandpré of Sainte-Foy, Que., and Emmanuel André-Morin of Montreal in the championship match. Hall recorded 11 digs in the contest, four more than the Quebec pairing could manage, and added 12 kills. He also had one service ace while Podstawka had 15 kills, two digs and four blocks.
Left: Adam Podstawka (left) and Reid Hall at the Canada Summer Games medal presentation
The Ontarian duo was clearly the best of the group at the Canada Summer Games as the two men did not drop a set all week. Hall and Podstawka were a perfect 4-0 in round-robin play with victories over teams from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Quebec. They then recorded another straight-sets win over Manitoba in the semifinals before their gold-medal winning performance in the final.
Hall is now the third York Lion to win gold in the beach volleyball competition at Canada’s biggest multi-sport event. The only other time beach volleyball was contested was in 2001 when the gold medal was won by former York standouts Darren Goss (2000-2004) and Domingo Miguel (2000-2003).
A two-time Ontario University Athletics men’s volleyball all-star, Hall, as a member of the York Lions, has experienced tremendous success as a beach volleyball player. He is a five-time beach national youth champion and recently captured the Ontario senior men’s title along with Podstawka, who is a former member of the Lions (2005-2008) and the middle brother of a Podstawka family that has dominated beach volleyball for the past decade.
Next up for the two men is the Canadian senior beach volleyball championships, which will take place Aug. 28 to 30 at Ashbridges Bay in Toronto.