Brüning takes home silver at Deaflympics Mission Beach resident and legally deaf volleyball player Mike Brüning didn’t get beach volleyball gold at the 2009 Summer Deaflympics earlier this month, but there was a silver lining. Brüning and his partner Dimitri Nikiforov captured silver in Taipei. In the gold medal match on Sept. 14, Brüning and Nikiforov lost in three games to the Ukrainian duo of Oleksandr Poltoratskyi and Sergii Tarasov. Prior to that loss, Brüning and Nikiforov had only dropped one game in the entire tournament. Brüning and Nikforov beat teams from Russia, Poland, Brazil, Italy, Greece, Germany and Ukraine en route to the finals. Brüning also won silver in beach volleyball at the 2005 Deaflympics in Melbourne. — Anthony Gentile Six-man volleyball tournament set for Oct. 4 The san Diego Six-Man Volleyball BeachFest will be held Oct. 3 at Mariner’s Point on Mission Bay. This tournament is a six-on-six competition, but it’s just as much about having fun and participating as it is about winning. Many teams dress up in outlandish costumes to compete in the sand. For more information and to register visit sandiegosixman.com.