Hawai'i's Mike Lambert and Stein Metzger defeated Germany's Julius Brink and Christoph Dieckmann, 21-12, 21-17, yesterday to finish third in the Henkel Grand Slam in Paris, the first of four Grand Slam events on beach volleyball's SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

Lambert and Metzger, seeded 14th in the tournament, shared $23,000.

"This is a good way to start the season with a good finish in a grand slam event," Metzger said in a story at the FIVB Web site. "We played well internationally last season, but not great. Hopefully, Mike and I will put together a string of medal finishes en route to earning a spot in the Olympics. We defeated a very good team today and had a good week against the world."

Lambert and Metzger, both Punahou School graduates, won six of their seven matches with their only loss in the semifinals to reigning Olympic champions Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos, who went on to win the tournament with a 19-21, 21-17, 15-12 victory over Brazilian rivals Pedro Cunha and Franco Neto.

Americans Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh defeated China's Jia Tian and Jie Wang, 21-15, 21-12, in the women's final to secure the $43,000 first-place prize.

STANLEY PROPELS U.S.

Honolulu's Clay Stanley had 10 kills yesterday to lead the United States to a sweep of Japan in a men's volleyball World League match.

Stanley, a Kaiser High and University of Hawai'i alum, also had an ace.

Riley Salmon and William Priddy added nine kills each as the Americans improved to 8-2 in Group B of the 16-nation tournament with a 25-23, 25-22, 25-22 win over host Japan.

Japan dropped to 1-7.

Sixteen countries are divided into four first-round groups. Six teams will advance to the final round in Poland in July.

The U.S. leads Group B with 18 points followed by France with 16. Italy has 11 points while Japan has nine.