ATHENS -- The mystery continues for the U.S. men's beach volleyball team of Dain Blanton and Jeff Nygaard.

Seeded eighth in the Olympic tournament, the Americans lost their second consecutive pool match on Monday, this time to Canada's John Child and Mark Heese, 21-16, 21-10. With an 0-2 pool record and one match left, the Americans are unlikely to advance to the quarterfinals. Blanton won the
gold medal four years ago with Eric Fonoimoana.

"We took a beating, an absolute beating," Nygaard said. "And the way we are playing you can argue that we deserve it."

For Nygaard, the loss was his seventh consecutive in Olympic play, dating back to five defeats with the men's indoor team in Sydney.

The 46-minute match began and ended with Child dominating the net. He rejected a Nygaard shot for a 1-0 lead in the opener and stuffed Blanton for match point.

The 6-foot-4 Child, who won bronze with Heese in Sydney, posted 11 stuffs, most against the 6-9 Nygaard.

Heese, meanwhile frustrated the Americans with his aggressive play in the sand. On one play late in Game Two, he put the foundering Americans away with two digs and a kill on a furious exchange, making the score 17-9.

Child and Heese, both 35, next play Wednesday against Australia's Julien Prosser and Mark Williams.

Earlier in the game, the U.S. again squandered a chance to come back when the Canadians were denied consecutive points by the officials.

The first was an early whistle when a Blanton dig deflected out of bounds. On the second, an apparent dig by Heese was scored a point for the U.S., making the score 8-6 Canada.

But from there it was all Canada. Child and Heese would score the last six points of the game and seal the match.

In Game One, the U.S. came out with more intensity than their 42-minute loss Sunday to Prosser and Williams. In that game, Nygaard had no blocks and Blanton committed six service errors.

The U.S. pulled close in the first game when Blanton scored in a jump-serve ace to make the 16-14 Canada. Then a Nygaard rejection made it 16-15.

But Canada regrouped and would outscore the U.S. 6-1 to seal the game.

Blanton and Nyggard next face Switzerland's Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel, who are 2-0 in the pool, on Wednesday. The top two teams in each of the six pools, plus the top four third-place teams, move on to the quarterfinals.