ASPEN, COLO. - For the third-straight day, a California tandem has won a title at the 25th Motherlode Volleyball Classic as Eric Anderson and Kent Kitchel captured the Men's Masters title here Saturday (August 30).

The Men's Masters title in the 37 and older event was the third- straight for the Anderson/Kitchel sand volleyball pair as they downed fourth-seeded Dave and Larry Mear (San Clemente, Calif.) 15- 17 and 7-5 in the double-final.

Californians David King (San Cruz) and Dan Sayler (San Luis Obispo) won the Men's Seniors title Thursday while Andrea Beylen (Menlo Park) and Sue Holmes (Mountain View) won the Women's Masters Friday.

The title win was Anderson's (Los Gatos, Calif.) fifth Men's Masters championship. Anderson and Kitchel (Santa Cruz) dropped the 1995 Motherlode Master's final to Pat Powers and John Stevenson (5-15 and 1-7).

The Mears, who dropped a championship bracket semi-final match to Anderson/Kitchel Saturday, had to win three contender's bracket matches earlier Saturday to advance to the finals. The Mears eliminated Don Buntrock (Denver, Colo.)/Kevin Lockwood (Phoenix, Ariz.) 11-4, third-seeded John Hastings/Sayler (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) 11-8 and second-seeded Brad Barber (Venice Beach, Calif.)/King 11-7 earlier Saturday.

Barber/King and Hastings/Sayler finished third and fourth, respectively, while Buntrock/Lockwood tied for fifth with Dennis Collins/Doug White (Los Angeles, Calif.). Tying for seventh in the Men's Masters were Kelly Esser (Denver)/Kevin McBrien (Lakewood, Colo.) and Dean Carlson/Clare Dunning (Denver).

Play continues Sunday as the Motherlode Volleyball Classic has attracted over 600 teams for the five-day event. Pro-am play in seven men's and five women's classes are being held at six different locations in the Aspen-area.

Curtis Griffin (Boulder, Colo.) and Erik Moore (Salt Lake City, Utah) are back as the top-seeded team as the pair defends the Motherlode's Men's Open title that they have won the past two years. The pair won their opening match Saturday in the 64-team Men's Open event.

Valinda Hilleary (Littleton, Colo.) and Pat Keller (Sarasota, Fla.), who captured the Motherlode's 1993 Women's Open title, is the top-seeded team in the 32-team women's event. Hilleary and Keller also won their opening match Saturday. Shannon Misek (Denver), who won the 1996 Women's Open title with Gina Pillitiere, is also in the field as she teams with Mardji Hyde (Castle Rock, Colo.).