Since I took a personal day and the numbering is a little weird anyway, being that qualification for one gender starts a day before the other (and I could swear it was the other way around last year, the women starting first), I think I'll just give that a rest, for at least this week. It usually makes more sense in my head to do it that way, but not this time. I'd love to just say days of the week, but with China on the other side of the globe from me, that doesn't work either. So whatever you want to call it.
They played some beach volleyball today. And here's a wee recap.
Keizer/Van Iersel vs. Jin/Miao
This was the second match of the day on centre court; the web streams didn't start in time to do a full write-up of the first. I was only marginally interested in this match, but I kept it here rather than going to the outer courts because most of the later centre court matches did draw my interest.
Seven straight sideouts preceded the first side change. The Chinese scored on serve first, with an ace to go ahead 5-4, but the Dutch team sided out to keep them from going on a scoring run. They then went on a quick mini-run of their own, taking the first 2-point lead of the match at 7-5. They sided out to make it 8-6 at the second side change, and got an ace on what looked like a pretty easy serve to handle to go up three at 9-6. The Chinese ran it back to 9-all ahead of the midpoint coming with the Dutch ever so slightly ahead, 11-10 on service.
China kept up the pressure out of the timeout, taking the lead again at 12-11. After a few sideouts, they also took a point on serve ahead of the fourth change, taking their first 2-point lead of the set at 15-13. A Chinese hitting error, and what you might simply call a hitting mistake (she hit well wide despite open court being present), on 15-14 made the match even again. The Dutch team scored a rare transitional point, one that starts with amazing offence and ends with a kill, to reclaim the lead themselves at 17-16. China responded with another mini-run to go out ahead as this seesaw first set neared its conclusion. The Dutch called time facing a 19-17 deficit, but they had no answer as the Chinese finished off the set 21-18.
Set 2 had an even longer run of tit-for-tat than set 1 did. While not entirely sideout after sideout, it was 7-all at the second side change without either side having led by 2. It looked to me like the Chinese would get that first 2-point lead, serving up 8-7, with a Dutch hit that very much appeared to land out, but it was ruled in. Just as in set 1, the Dutch team held the slender 11-10 lead on service after 21 points had been played.
The Chinese got the first two out of the timeout, but this only let them serve with the lead, it did not give them a 'sideout to victory' advantage. And then it was sideout after sideout again, until finally the Chinese took the first 2-point lead of the set at 17-15 by getting a real rarity in the match — a dig. With a great serve on 18-16 to completely disrupt the Dutch team's offence, they went ahead three at 19-16. The Dutch didn't cut into this deficit, and the Chinese team happily celebrated an upset win (this was #2 vs. #31 by the seedlines), the final being (21-18, 21-18).
Yue/Ma vs. Broder/Valjas
The Chinese team ran out ahead in a blink, taking the first three points of the match on serve. They had a shot for a fourth, but the hitting attempt flew long. China led 4-3 on reception at the second change, and re-established their advantage shortly thereafter. A right-side stuff block, where the blocker used her head as much as her arms, made it 8-3. It was 9-5 China, on reception, after 14 points. Canada had a shot to pull one back on serve at 10-6, but some truly amazing defence from the Chinese side led to a point in transition. An ace made it 12-6, and the lead reached seven a point later. The midpoint came with China doubled up on Canada, and Broder/Valjas came no closer than six the rest of the way. The final was 21-13.
After splitting the first 14 points of set 2 down the middle, the Chinese decided to stop sharing and took two to go out ahead 9-7. They added one more on serve in advance of the midpoint, to lead 12-9. China asserted themselves as simply the better team on the court by running out to 15-10 and the teams traded sideouts to China's match point at 20-15. A pretty thoroughly uninteresting match, sorry to say, ended with a kill for the Chinese to take set 2 21-15.
Xue/Zhang vs. Dampney/Boulton
I think I'm getting better the Chinese names. These players' full names are transliterated into English as Xue Chen and Zhang Xi, with the first name being the family name. What gets me sometimes is some media sources (and, indeed, the onscreen scoreboard on the webcast) will invert the names to put the family name last, as if to accommodate westerners. Thanks, but that doesn't really help.
My connection cut out for a few minutes at the beginning of the match, and came back with the Chinese leading 8-5 on reception. The British team managed to get one on serve to get back within 2 at the second side change. Zhang's hit on 9-8 looked to land wide, and it was ruled wide by the flagger, but the up ref gave the put to the Chinese. They extended back to three at 12-9 on the halfway timeout, a kill rebounding off a dig attempt by Boulton and out. On the first rally after the change, Dampney hit a ball that looked remarkably like the Chinese hit on 9-8 earlier. The flagger called it out, but this time that call stood, and China went ahead by four.
A hitting miscue from Zhang, as her attempt failed to clear the net, brought the Brits back within 2 at 13-11, but later Boulton returned the favour to make it 15-12 China. The Chinese made it to a four-point advantage at the fourth side change. Dampney did will to keep it from extending to five on the first point after the change, as the Chinese gave us a perfect example of those awful little let-serves you usually can't do a thing with, but she fielded it cleanly, the offence was set, and they got the point and sideout. 16-13 was then a fairly long rally, going the way of the Brits once more. An ace for Dampney made it 16-15, and it was timeout China.
The Chinese made it 3 again at 18-15 coming out of the timeout, but the Brits just as quickly closed it back to a single point. On the 18-17 rally, Dampney made a terrific dig and Boulton had open court to fire at, but her attempt flew just long. China reached set point at 20-18 and showed some terrific skill to win the point and set, as they were pretty out of system but Zhang managed to angle her 'free ball' just perfectly into unoccupied court, back-right. One of those plays that'd never happen indoor ('a course, you never get really that out of sorts on offence in indoor, either).
China started with 4 of 5 in set 2, to give the British girls an immediate hole out of which to climb. It was 5-2 at the first side change, and that margin held steady to 8-6, China on reception, after two changes. They nearly went up four, as Xue's serve just did fail to clear the net, and the British would have had no chance at it if it did. Boulton's swing on service reception at 10-7 failed to clear the net, and then she got aced to make it 12-7, which prompted Zara and Lucy to call time. They took two to close back within 3 at the midpoint. At 15-11 on service, Zhang added an ace to make it a 5-point lead for the Chinese, and after the British sided out once the Chinese closed out the match with five of six, taking it 21-13.
Xu/Gao vs. Gibb/Patterson
Apparently my feed was lagging badly, because I refreshed it just moments after the previous match ended, and this one was already a few points old. Should have been a layover of at least 10 or 15 minutes. The Chinese team took an early 3-point lead at 8-5 by playing some great transition defence and snag one on serve. On the first point after the change, China got away with one as their hit attempt very clearly hit the net and not the block and rebounded back on their side (which would have been 4 hits). They played the ball back over, and it fell in. Gibb understandably protested the call — it was pretty obviously blown — but it stood. They did a fine job of just going straight back to work after it, though, taking four of the next six to close to 11-10 at the halfway mark.
China added two to their lead to come back from the timeout, and then played an awesome point on 14-11, both team members diving for the ball but the second managing to make his dig a pinpoint-accurate set as well. The hit didn't disappoint, and the Chinese went up four. They made it five on the next rally with an emphatic block to get what crowd were in attendance a little excited. Another block on the next rally got them even more excited. That sent us to the side change at 17-11, and the Americans did sideout there and pull back a few, but the damage was done. The final was 21-16.
After an even split to the first eight points, the Americans started to edge ahead in set 2. They led 6-4 and later 8-5, then making it a 4-point differential when China were called for a lift. The run continued after the side change, with the Americans taking a long rally to go up 11-5 and prompt China's timeout. They got their sideout after the timeout, but could not start a run of their own. The Americans looked to have the Chinese doubled up at the midway point timeout, but the up ref overruled the flagger's call that their hit had found hands on its way out. Still, 13-8 was a solid lead, and boy did they build on it. They took 5 straight after the midway timeout, some Chinese miscues adding up, to lead by a maximum of ten and send us to a 3rd set decider. Final was 21-12.
In the 3rd, the USA team led by a point at the first side change, and took a long rally on 3-2 to go up two. It was on their serve, but it was one of those where it's so long it really stops mattering who served it. They snagged the next point as well to prompt China to call time down 5-2. They got one on serve ahead of the second side change to make it back to within two at 6-4, which was a crazy long rally where the Chinese boys just refused to let the ball drop. Their tenacity on defence was eventually rewarded, not least by the rapidly-growing crowd, as the made it back to 6-5. The next serve just crawled over the net for an ace to make it 6-all. They took a one-point lead before the Americans at last sided out.
After a few sideouts, the Chinese took another great one on their serve at 9-8 to go up two. They really did an amazing job of making their desperation digs work as bump-sets, which is so hard to do. But they gave it right back with an attack error to make it 10-all after four changes, and then the Americans piled on three themselves, also playing some excellent transition defence. The crowd repaid them with….well, nothing, but they were going against the home team. China got the sideout at 13-11, to the delight of the fans. The Americans got to match point at 14-11, and converted on reception to win an entertaining match 15-12 in the 3rd.
Brouwer/Meeuwsen vs. Wu/Wu
The Dutch team clinched a place in the knockout stage yesterday, while the Chinese entered not guaranteed of a place in that round, but likely to attain one. I'm still not sure why they're the #1 seed, though. Maybe someone can fill me in. Brouwer and Meeuwsen started out in control, leading 8-6 at the second side change and adding another on serve to lead 12-9 after 21 total points. It was sideout after sideout until a great serve for Brouwer rebounded off both Chinese players for an easy ace. The next got them out of system to lead to a quick kill for him, and the Dutch team were ahead 17-11 after four changes. They went on to put it away without much trouble, 21-15.
It occurs to me that Brouwer and Meeuwsen are a relatively rare pairing of two big guys. Brouwer is 6-foot-6, and Meeuwsen is 6-foot-9. It must speak to their quickness, reflexes, and, to be sure, youth, that they can make such a tandem as this work out. You usually want a small guy in the mix to jump and dive for balls and be able to scramble around when necessary. But if a big guy can do that, so much the better because now who do you serve?
Brouwer and Meeuwsen pressed their advantage early to take the old 'one and a half' point lead at the first side change in set 2. Brouwer extended it to 3 with an ace at 8-5, and then added a kill to put the Dutch up four at the second side change. It was 12-9 at the midway point, as the Chinese had pulled back a point, but only just the one. There was then very little variance, with the Dutch leading by either 3 or 4 until they rattled off five straight to end it. A Chinese hitting error made it 17-12, and a nice Meeuwsen kill in transition made it 18-12. Meeuwsen added a block to make it 19-12, and then finished it stylishly, with back-to-back aces getting the job done.
Dalhausser/Rosenthal vs. Doppler/Horst
I switched over to court 4 specifically for this match, and as it happens, court 4 was running well behind schedule. Nicolai/Lupo vs. Kadziola/Szalankiewicz had only just finished the first set when I joined in. The Poles closed out in two to secure a minor upset, but what bears mentioning about this match is how it ended. The Italians saved a few match point with Lupo on service, and he was making some weird serves. He had a little half-turn approach to the service line and then he just launched the ball, probably a good 30 or 40 feet in the air (camera didn't show exactly how high). The Poles called timeout and on the next serve, Lupo kept the same form, and the ball didn't clear the net. Didn't even hit the net. I really don't think I've ever seen that — a service error where the ball lands in bounds on your side, without touching the net. I guess this was an okay time to be experimenting (they were in no danger of being eliminated), but man that was a weird serve.
As for the match this section of the post is supposed to be about, it was pretty boring to start. Just sideout after sideout. Rosenthal broke the monotony on 7-6 by beating the block for a kill on serve, but the Austrians quickly got the point back at 8-all, on a rare hitting miscue by Dalhausser at the end of a frenetic rally. The Americans established a three-point lead after that on the back of some Dalhausser blocking and a wise decision to let an Austrian hit sail long on 10-8. Someone said "Get outta here, good eye by you!" and I think it was someone in the crowd, whatever crowd are there for outer-court matches.
The Austrians made it back within one at the midpoint with a service ace, and later knotted the set once more at 13-all. Dalhausser made another unforced error at 15-all, and this one was even more unlikely, being that it came on the heels of a straightforward bump-set-spike. After siding out, a block for the big man put the USA team back on top again at 17-16. Dalhausser went down hard on the rally ending 17-all, and play was briefly stopped while he gathered himself at courtside. An ace for the Austrians put them back on top at 18-17, as the seesaw first set continued. The Austrians reached set point at 20-18 playing a beautiful transition game, as they spanned allover the court to track down a wayward ball and still got off a great hit. Dalhausser staved off one set point with a roll shot, causing the Austrians to call time. He saved the second with a great block, and it was off to extras.
The Austrians got their third try at set point at 21-20, and Dalhausser again came up with the equaliser. On 22-21 Austria, no heroics were needed, as their serve drilled the net. At 22-all, Rosenthal made a great dig, jabbing at the ball to keep it alive, but the Americans couldn't follow that up with a successful attempt on offence. Finally, on their fifth try, the Austrians converted set point, 24-22.
A tit-for-tat start to set 2 ended with Dalhausser blocking a right-side roll shot to put the Americans ahead 7-5, which held steady to 8-6 at the side change despite Doppler and Horst's best efforts. They got the point back at 8-all with a little shoddy service reception on the American side getting them out of sorts offensively. They went ahead at the midpoint 11-10 as another less-than-stellar reception resulted in one of those awkward-aces. But as if to suggest that even when they're not on their best they're still one of the best teams in the world, they took four straight after the midway timeout to go back ahead, and prompt Austria's timeout. Doppler and Horst got back within a point at 15-14, but a couple of big blocks from big Phil made it three again. They extended to four at 18-14, and finished off a gutty second set winning 21-18.
Just like the first two sets, the decider started off very much back-and-forth. It wasn't all sideout after sideout — meaning the circumstance of who got to serve while holding the 1-point lead changed at least once or twice — but no one went up 2 until the Americans managed it at 11-9 in advance of the fourth change. Pretty late in the deciding set for someone to only just take advantage, and the Austrians didn't let the lead last long, getting the point back on the rally ending 12-all. Sideout after sideout followed to the American match point on service at 14-13. It looked like the Austrians had come up with a match-tying kill, but the up ref must have overruled the flagger. Dalhausser and Rosenthal escaped with a gutty, resilient win when they were clearly not playing their very best volleyball.
Lili/Seixas vs. Fopma/Sweat
And it was back to the ladies at that point, as this match took centre court.
Only the first very few points were split in this one, as the Brazilians seized the advantage early. I must admit I was momentarily distracted by something else, so I couldn't really comment on how it happened, but suffice it to say they opened up a solid 12-6 lead as the set neared the midpoint. Even when the Americans next took three in a row to reach the true midpoint, they still had a deficit facing them. They found a nice middle block on the first point back from the timeout, but a service error slowed the roll. Effectively, the Brazilians countered the Americans' 4-0 run with a 5-1 run of their own, making it a wash as the teams switched sides at 17-11. They finished off the set without needing another side change, 21-14 the final.
The Americans put up more of a fight in set 2, keeping things even through the first 12 points. On the 6-all rally, the Americans got the point, but the Brazilians protested something. I didn't see what was contentious about the play, though the whistle did blow before the ball found the sand. Brazil took the first two after the 7-all side change, with an ace and a block. They added a point to their advantage in advance of the halfway timeout, to lead by three. Seixas added an ace on the first serve after the timeout, and then made it two in a row with the next to start to pull away. Fopma and Sweat sided out at 14-10, but that didn't stop the roll. They called time trailing 16-10 but posed little resistance the rest of the way, the final coming at 21-15.
Zumkehr/Heidrich vs. Van der Vlist/Wesselink
With a not-altogether-interesting China/Germany match coming up on centre court, I switched back to the outer. This match, believe it or not, was supposed to start at the same time as that USA/Brazil match.
And this was a good, competitive match, but I tuned out a little. I was getting sleepy. The Dutch girls took a good 5 or 6 point lead at one point in set 1, and had set point with several opportunities in hand, but only just managed to convert, at 21-19. Zumkehr and Heidrich decided that they weren't going down without a fight in the second, leading by 3-4 most of the way. The Dutch made it back even at 19's, keeping them from getting to set point, but the Swiss girls did eventually take it in extras 23-21. Zumkehr and Heidrich took the lead early in the decider and never gave it up, holding on 15-11. And that result pleases me. They're too good a team to get swept out of pool play, and they're gonna have their hands full with Holtwick/Semmler tomorrow.
I don't know if any tournament staff are farmed out to stay at particular courts for the duration of a day. Officials definitely aren't. Don't know about medical staff or scorekeepers or sand-rakers or whatever, but if there are, props to whoever worked court 4 today. Because it had a LOT of long matches. This one, being not the least nor the greatest but simply the latest, officially put it more than one entire match behind schedule. The Germany/USA match that followed should have already been over before those four athletes even came on the sand to warm up. This is worth its own post, and I'll explore it in one, but this is something I love about our sport that may be going away in the next few years, for reasons that aren't of the purest in heart.
Day/Hochevar vs. Ludwig/Walkenhorst
The Germans enter with a surprisingly convincing win over the Schwaiger sisters, who sort of impressed me in Fuzhou, while Day/Hochevar lost in earlier action to Cicolari/Menegatti. The Americans crawled out to an 8-6 lead after two side changes, with a point here and a point there on serve. I continued to enjoy Hochevar's emphatic shot-calling, though it didn't really seem to help much as the set progressed and the Germans used a 5-1 run to take the lead. They led 11-10, on reception, at the halfway timeout.
The Americans took the first two out of the timeout and added a block on serve to go up 14-12. I lost my connection for a moment shortly afterward, and came back just in time to see a Hochevar ace. The Germans called time trailing 17-13, but the Americans only poured it on to take set 1 21-15.
Ludwig and Walkenhorst zipped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the 2nd set — of course they did, they lost set 1 — prompting the Americans to call time. The timeout was fruitless to stop something you're not gonna see very often in pro beach volleyball — a 7-0 whitewash to start a set. A service error did finally get the Americans on the board after the two teams switched sides, but at 7-0 it's already basically over, dooming court 4 to yet another long match. Hochevar argued a whistle going against her side on the rally ending 13-5, and appeared to not really be back in the game on the next rally (but nor was Day), as the serve fell harmlessly between them, and well in bounds for an ace. The midpoint came with a relative pasting of 15-6 showing on the scoreboard, and it got worse still for the Americans as their deficit reached 11, first at 18-7. On set point at 20-9, Hochevar dove for a serve that was pretty clearly headed wide, and it rebounded off her for an ace.
But of course, it was 0-0 again in the decider. And it stayed just that even for a little while. A let-serve ace that seemed to land out (I'm telling you guys, I'd suck as a flagger) gave the Americans the first point on serve of the set, and another ace put them up 5-3. Germany were called for a ball handling fault to put them down 6-3, to Hochevar's audible delight, and took their timeout just after. Day came up big at the net for a block to make it 7-3 at the second side change, and then found another on the first point after the change to give the Americans a commanding 5-point lead. The Germans finally sided out there, but the hill was too steep to climb. The deficit stayed right at 5 most of the rest of the way, until the Americans added on late with some great serving and a right-side block from Day to end it at 15-8.
Maria/Agatha vs. Sinnema/Stiekema
It's just crazy how far behind schedule court 4 got.
First fashion alert in Shanghai — both of these teams wore tight underclothes, to keep warm against the ever-increasing wind. They wore their bikini tops on the outside, but I had it clarified for me that that's not actually the rule. The rule is simply that identifying information (name and number) must be visual. The Americans at the last Olympics had special gear made up to satisfy this purpose without having to wear bikini tops on the outside (which just looks ridiculous) but obviously the FIVB tour is not the Olympics, nor do most of the nations here have USA's budget nor value of beach volleyball. So the cheaper option it is. And I just wrote an entire damn paragraph about Under Armour. Wow.
Thanks for reading this far, if anyone has. Gimme a shout on twitter or email or something, because I'd like to know who, someone, anyone, reads this far.
As for this Brazil/Netherlands match, it was back-and-forth, one-for-one until the midpoint, which came with Maria and Agatha leading just 11-10. They rattled off four of the next five to go ahead by four and later extended to five at 18-13, and the Dutch team's timeout. The talented Brazilians only poured it on to close out a 21-14 first set final. Finally, a match that should have been a drubbing actually was one, as the Brazilians outmatched the Dutch early in set 2, taking 6 of the first 7, and never let up, finishing with a 21-10 pasting.
The weather was no doubt taking a serious turn for the worst by this point, as not only these two teams but also the officials, flaggers, and even the sand-rakers were bundled up. To my pleasant surprise, tournament organisers did move the Poland/Spain match from court 4 over to the unoccupied centre court, but bafflingly they scheduled another match to take place afterwards on centre court. They scheduled this match for 7pm local time, long after any other matches were originally scheduled (and long after the unfortunate two teams — Maria Clara/Carolina and Dampney/Boulton — had played their first matches of the day).
And whoever ran the onscreen scoreboard evidently fell asleep or something too, because there wasn't one for a while during the Spain/Poland match (it did eventually come on late in the 2nd set). It made the action very hard to follow (the camera didn't give a good shot of the up referee, and points don't always go the way you think they do, so manual scorekeeping is tricky). So I didn't really attempt to write any of it up, but hay-soos hell, if this isn't enough of a write-up I'm not sure what would be.
It kinda felt like a 19-inning baseball game, really. Not for the players, obviously — but for everyone else.
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