As Mike DiPierro watched Matt Heath pound the volleyball into the sand to punctuate their team’s victory in the Toyota Pro Beach East Start of Summer Beach Bash at Rash Field in the Inner Harbor, he realized their summer just became a lot more difficult.

“It is always good to get the first one under your belt,” DiPierro said. “But now, everybody else is going to start gunning for us.”

Heath of Fort Myers, Fla., and DiPierro of Pompano Beach, Fla., won the two-on-two men’s beach volleyball tournament that opened the 2007 Toyota Pro Beach East Tour with a 20-22, 21-17, 15-9 victory over defending tournament champions, Tim McNichols of New York City and the Ihor Akinshyn of the Ukraine on Sunday.

The championship game victory was the second time in a little more than four hours Heath and DiPierro defeated McNichols and Akinshyn. They played in the winner’s bracket semifinal earlier on Sunday, which Heath and DiPierro won in straight games, 23-21, 21-16.

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“It is always hard. It is tough to beat somebody twice,” said Heath, of his 16th tournament title, making him the tour’s winningest player. “These guys came out and they took a game from us and they were playing great ball and in the end it might have been some of the heat that got to them.”

McNichols and Akinshyn came into the championship match after a 23-21, 21-15 victory over third-place finishers Justin Phipps and A.J. Milhalic. In the championship game, Akinshyn’s strong play around the net was backed by McNichols’ key digs, allowing them to seize the early lead. But over the next two games, McNichols and Akinshyn couldn’t maintain their high level of play, enabling Heath and DiPierro to capitalize on their mistakes.

“The emphasis was on our ability to put the ball away and that is what we did a bit better in that first [championship] game,” McNichols said. “But, they ended up handling business.”

Weather played a big part in deciding the tournament, as temperatures reached in excess of 90 degrees. This played to Heath and DiPierro’s advantage since they remained in the winner’s bracket.

However, McNichols and Akinshyn had to play three matches on Sunday since they lost to Heath and DiPierro earlier in the day.

“The longer you stay on the court the more tired you get, so every extra game counts,” Akinshyn said. “You are punished with more games.”