I only got to see some of the day's action, hence why this post isn't chopped in two like Day 1's and Day 2's. There was quite a bit to cover on the college side today in addition to pool play ending for the women and knockout play beginning for the men over in China.
I was relegated to centre court for my viewing today, as the link for the outer-court camera wasn't working. Curses again! The first match I saw in full was of almost literally no interest to me:
Ricardo/Alvaro Filho vs. Xu/Gao
I know who Ricardo is, but not his partner, and I just can't keep Chinese teams straight at all (yeah, I'm a racist, whatever….I wish it weren't the case, but it is). But I'll give it a shot. This was team China's second match of the day, having beaten Spijkers and Van de Velde (21-18, 21-16) earlier on. The Brazilians were out ahead after 7 points, leading by what I like to call "1 and a half points" as the score was 4-3 in their favour but with the other team serving. True to form, they scored on reception to go ahead 2. Brazil extended it to 3 at 8-5, leading 8-6 at the side change, and then started to put it away after two side changes, China calling their timeout at 11-6, but five remained the margin at the halfway point.
After a stretch of sideouts, the Chinese took one of the first points on serve they had in the whole match to close the deficit back to two at 15-13, ahead of another side switch. Brazil took their timeout when they found their deficit narrowed to a single point at 16-15. China drew it back even at 17. From 17-all, four hard-fought rallies all went to the Brazilians, with some terrific net play by the veteran Ricardo leading the way and a kill for the smaller and younger Brazilian finishing things.
China took the early lead in set 2, going up 8-6 (but with the Brazilians serving) following two side switches. A block for Ricardo closed Brazil back to within a point at 10-9, but the Chinese ran a nifty play on the next ball to keep it from coming even, sending it over on 2. 11-10 was the margin at the midway point. The Chinese came up with four straight after the midway timeout, including a huge block against Ricardo for a player that looked about half a foot shorter. The crowd certainly took notice of that. Brazil called time trailing five, but came out like a house of fire to force China's timeout at 15-14. That rally was probably one of the best of the match, with great defence played on both sides. It ended when Alvaro chose to let a roll shot go, obviously thinking it would fly long, but it landed in. China added two more to get their breathing room back at 17-14, and held on to win 21-18.
It was back-and-forth in the decider, Brazil edging ahead 6-4 after two side changes and a point on serve for Alvaro gave them a 3-point lead after 15. China's service reception on 9-6 left a lot to be desired, but they got away with it, with their attack finding open court. Ricardo's big block on the left side put Brazil up four, and people started to leave courtside, the home team in a big hole. The Chinese serve on 12-9 came agonisingly close to hitting the end line, but it indeed flew long. Brazil sided out to match point at 14-10, converting on serve.
Brouwer/Meeuwsen vs. Dyachenko/Sidorenko
Now this was a match I'd been hoping to see, between two really good teams. The Dutch pair stormed ahead from first serve, Meeuwsen's front-line blocking just too much for Kazakhs early, and his service ace making it 6-1 at the side switch. The Kazakhs took an early timeout there. The Kazakhs got the sideout and went on a run themselves, with some sterling net play of their own. They closed back to within a point at 6-5 before the Dutch got the sideout, and it was 8-6 at the second change. Strictly sideout volleyball made it 11-10 Netherlands, with Kazakhstan to serve, at the midway point.
The Kazakhs made a few unforced errors coming out of the timeout, and quickly again found themslves in the hole 14-10. Another service ace for Meeuwsen put the Dutch up five, and another unforced error made it 16-10. That subsequent rally was very long, eventually ending with yet another unforced error for the Kazakhs as a roll shot flew wide, making it 17-10. The next ball on the Kazakh side went into the net, meaning the Dutch team scored every point between the third and fourth side changes. Not something you see very often. Meeuwsen's presence at the net left the Kazakhs to try roll shots, which Brouwer easily dug, leading to free hitting opportunities for him. The Kazakhs never staunched the run, the Dutch team finishing off an embarrassing 21-10 first set against a team who are better than they showed.
So the task was to, well….show better. The Kazakhs started on service for set 2 but the Dutch immediately sided out, and added a second point before Kazakhstan got the serve back. 2-1 was a long rally, going to the Kazakhs to tie the set. The Kazakhs got an ace of their own, I think it was the first of the match, to go up 4-3 at the side switch. They followed it up with another, on a let, to go up two and already claim half their first set point total. They led 8-6 at the second change, but the Dutch drew even with a kill for Brouwer off hands and out. It was 11-10 Kazakhstan at the midpoint but dead even at 14's after four switchez. The Kazakhs were getting back to their good terminating hitting, but their service reception still had me balling my fists a little.
Sideout after sideout it went on. One of the Kazakhs fell to the ground with his face in the sand after running after a ball at one point, and I thought at first he was hurt, but I think he was just taking the moment to regain himself. The Kazakhs got the potentially crucial next 2-point lead at 18-16, but the Dutch team ran back to 18-all after their timeout, a huge huge hit for Meeuwsen getting them there. The teams then traded service errors to make it 19-all. The Dutch got to match point with a hitting error into the net, and the off-ball Kazakh player was not happy with the result, kicking the ball as soon as it hit the sand. I thought for a second he might have been yellow-carded, which would give an additional point and the win automatically to Netherlands, as the two teams vacated the court, but it actually seems like it was just a timeout. The Kazakhs saved the first match point to tie it at 20-all, but gave it away with a wide hit on the second match point.
This wasn't a bad match — the first set faceplant for the Kazakhs can, of course, also be attributed to better execution on the part of the Dutch, and a 10-0 run to run out a set is some kind of execution. But still, I was hoping for a better encounter.
Schwaiger/Schwaiger vs. Ross/Hochevar
I'm pleased that at this point, camera 2 started working. Certainly this match interested me more than the Austria/China match on centre court. I'm pretty sure at this point I'll take a Summer Ross match 9 times out of 10. Court 2 may have come on because this marked a pretty significant lull in the day's action, as it was nearly an hour between the previous match and this. This was the first match of the knockout stage for these teams, as both won their final pool play matches earlier in the day.
The Americans started the match in the far court, but once again Brittany Hochevar was pretty instantly established as the most demonstrative player on the court. Ross served before the up official signalled for it on 2-2. There's no penalty for that, you just have to do it over again, but it looked weird when the Austrian team just caught the ball in midair. Their first block of the match put them up 4-2, 4-3 with reception after the side change. Ross and Hochevar got the equaliser to 4 with some great transition play, and went ahead for the first time at 6-5 when the Schwaigers' return of serve was only a meager roll shot. It was 7-all through two side switches. 8-7 was then a very long rally, ending with the Austrian sisters going ahead two once more. Ross fumbled (all but literally) on service reception on the next ball, giving Austria the 10-7 lead. The Americans didn't side out until the point ending 11-8, with the midpoint coming two sideouts later at 12-9.
On 14-11, Hochevar came up with a block that I have to think would have been called as a lift indoors, but the rules are different by design. The next point also went to the Americans, but the Austrians protested it. Must admit I missed whatever controversy there was. The run on Ross' serve extended to the equaliser and the side change at 14-all. After some sideouts, the Schwaigers went ahead two again at 18-16 with a let-serve that fell in for an ace. Nothing Brittany and Summer could have done about it, it just crawled over the net and died in front of them. If that's why people hate lets being legal, I can understand (though I generally do like the let-serve being legal). Ross came up with a huge block (its hugeness underscored by Hochevar's roar from behind) to tie the set once more at 18, prompting the Schwaiger sisters to call time.
It was tied again at 19, and Ross' serve flew just barely long to give the Austrians set point at 20-19. Ross successfully staved it off. The Austrians got another chance at 21-20, but they blew the opportunity the Americans handed them with a dodgy service reception and a total lack of defence on Hochevar's roll shot. The Austrians' third set point didn't end it either, and then on 22-all Hochevar played a terrific point, diving to keep the ball alive and slamming home the kill to give the Americans their first set point at 23-22. The Austrians saved that one. Ross got the kill to make it 24-23 and set point for USA once again, for which Hochevar yelled out "Thank you!!" Brittany sealed the first set for the Americans with a block on 24-23.
The Austrians jumped out ahead in set 2, an unforced Ross hitting error followed by an Austrian block propelling them to 4-1 and 5-2 at the side change. It was very quickly 7-3 in favour of the Schwaigers, making a race to 15 already look like it'd be necessary. Ross was blocked on the rally ending 9-5 for the Austrians, causing her to shout out a plainly audible profanity. Interestingly, this quieted Hochevar a little. She was still directing traffic while play was ongoing, but she said a few things to Ross that were too quiet for the camera to pick up (which means nothing, really, the camera hardly ever picks up anyone speaking). Ross played a nice point in advance of the midway point, diving to pass a jump-float serve and putting away the kill off hands and out. It was 12-9 Austria.
With Hochevar serving, the Americans got the first two back from the midway timeout to get back within a point and prompt the Schwaigers' charged timeout. The Americans took two more to go on top for the first time in the set at 13-12, before the Austrians sided out. Sideout after sideout it remained, with ties at 13, 14, 15, and 16. It was a missed opportunity for the Americans leading 16-15, as they got a free ball after sending one themselves — a rare sight — but still lost the point. The Austrians went back on top by taking a point on serve at 17-all, in advance of side change number five. Converting on receive at 19-all, the Austrians made set point first, and converted on serve to send us to the race to 15 after all.
The Schwaigers stormed out ahead 4-1 at the first side change, their last point effectively beating (fooling, perhaps) Hochevar's attempt to cover Ross' block as the hitter went angle at the last possible moment. The Americans called their timeout facing a 6-2 deficit, but it extended to 7-2 on the first rally back. Ross and Hochevar were able to get a few sideouts, but didn't really cut into the Austrian team's lead, which extended to 10-4 at its zenith, very much. A service ace to make it 10-6 was probably the high point of the Americans' third set, and Ross slapping an overpass straight into the net to make it 13-7 was probably the low point. Neither side got in a particularly strong attack on the 13-9 rally, as it ended with the Austrians' first match point. The Austrians converted for a 15-10 final, making me think I really should try to learn which Schwaiger sister is which (they're not twins).
Pedro/Bruno vs. Nicolai/Lupo
Four strong players here, but I hesitate to call them two strong teams, as I'm not sure Pedro and Bruno have teamed before, but obviously the Italian duo have, and to great success.
The match started off with one of the worst serves I have ever seen, from Lupo, barely even hitting the net on the the right-hand side and falling back on the Italians' lateral side out of bounds for a point to Brazil. That's like 3 different kinds of errors, at least. They took two more on serve before the Italians got their first sideout of the match, and led 5-2 at the first side switch. The lead stretched to four points at 6-2 before the Italians got back within a point, and then it was even again at 7-all. After the second side change, the Italians continued their run. With Nicolai able to settle in on the front line as Lupo was serving, the big man came up with two nice blocks putting his side on top for the first time. He added another on his own serve, which takes some athleticism, to put the Italians up three at 11-8. On 11-9, Lupo looked to field a serve that was headed out, but he got the kill anyway to bring us to the halfway point.
On the 13-9 rally, Brazil celebrated having put the ball away maybe a fraction too soon, as the Italians did send a return over (it flew long). If it was in bounds, there's no way Pedro or Bruno would've gotten to it. A couple of hitting errors on the Italian side brought the Brazilians back within two at 15-13 on side change number four. Bruno uncorked a great serve on 16-14 to complete disrupt the Italians' offensive set, leaving them only to return a free ball. The Brazilians didn't waste that opportunity, nor the next just like it as, they evened the set at 16. Nicolai got the Italians the sideout, and Brazil called time before Lupo could serve the next point. The Italians had a shot to take that point and go up two, but Lupo's attack attempt flew long. 17-all was a short rally, but it was one that showed great skill on both sides, in terms of hitting power, blocking timing, covering blocks, defence, the works. On 18-all, the Italian hit was essentially "over-dug" by the Brazilian side, but it led to a little campfire defence by the Italians, putting Brazil on top for the first time in a little while and prompting Italy's timeout.
Nicolai and Lupo got the sideout to make it 19-all, but the jump-float serve on that point found nothing but net — works in basketball, but not le volley. They saved the first set point to make it 20-all, which was itself a great rally. The ball 'pinballed' of both members on each side a couple of times, eventually with the Italians winning the point to get a set point of their own. Brazil saved that one off, and it was 21-all. The Italians got two in a row after the sixth side switch to take the first set, much to the audible delight of some courtside tifosi.
As if to redeem his godawful first serve in set 1, Lupo found the sand for an ace to begin set 2. Some more good serves helped to edge them ahead 4-3 (facing reception) at the first change. The Brazilians missed an opportunity to come even on that rally, as they dug a couple of Italian swings but couldn't not really get off a strong swing themselves. The Italians led 8-6 at the second change with serve, effectively making the second set of 7 points a wash. At 8-7, the Italians' hit was ruled wide by the flagger, but overruled by the up referee to keep the string of sideouts going. Nicolai dove for a ball on 9-7 and had to take a moment to brush the sand off himself while he sat on the ground before getting up. You'd think a player as experienced as him would be used to it by now. The Italians led at the halfway point 11-10, facing reception.
Pedro and Bruno drew even shortly after the midpoint timeout, tying the set at 13's, and I heard some Portuguese being spoken in the crowd at that point. Just as quickly, the Italians rolled off three straight to take a 16-13 lead, poising themselves to claim the match. Sideout after sideout ensued to 18-16, where the Brazilians took one on serve that the Italians disputed (an in/out call on their hit). But taking just one on serve didn't remove the Italians' availability to sideout to victory, which they did at 21-19.
Brouwer/Meeuwsen vs. Huber/Seidl
This match was part of the final slate of matches for the day, featuring a team I've genuinely come to think of as medal contenders with the Cinderellas of this tournament, the 32nd-seeded Austrians playing their third match of the day having already eliminated Rogers/Doherty and Gibb/Patterson.
And the Dutch definitely had some fans for this match just as both teams did in the one previous, as both players were called out by name by courtside supporters. But the clock ticked close to midnight right from the outset, as the Dutch team took an easy 7-2 advantage out of the gates, staying pretty steady to 9-5 at the second side switch. The Austrians cut it to 2 a few times, but each time the Dutch came back with two of their own to retake the lead. They established a 5 point lead at the midpoint, and that held up for a while. The Austrians cut it close as the set neared its conclusion, coming within three at 18-15 and two at 19-17, prompting the Dutch to call time. They finished off the set by abandoning a long Austrian service error, the final being 21-18.
I just realised I haven't done a fashion alert in this post. Oh no!! Well, with almost no wind and, as far as I could discern, ample sunshine, no one needed cold weather gear on this day. But I did like the Austrian team's all-white jerseys in this match. Sometimes teams try a little too hard with their jerseys (Rogers/Dalhausser in argyle, anyone?), and white on top, white on bottom worked for these boys.
What was also working for them, at the beginning of set 2, were their service game and block, as they took an easy 5-1 lead to prompt the Dutch team to call time. But their roll kept going, going ahead 10-4 at the second side change. Their run extended even further, with a double hit called against the Dutch and then a hitting error making it 12-4 before they finally sided out. The Austrians extended all the way to 14-7 at the halfway point, making it clear we'd need a 3rd. The lead got as large as 10, at 18-8, and then 11 was the final deficit. It was pretty clear the Dutch team packed it in to save for a 3rd set and were playing at maybe 70 or 80 percent speed.
Huber and Seidl took a point on serve at 2-1 that the Dutch team disputed, but the call stood. They took another by winning a block/joust to go up 4-1 at the side switch. At 6-3, the Austrians nearly took a point they really had no business taking, with both players having to lay out for the ball — and yet they still got a strong hit in.
The Dutch still got that point to close to 6-4 after two switches. An ace off Meeuwsen a little later made it 9-5 Austrians, and Brouwer powered through the solid Austrian block to make it 9-6 at the third change. The Dutch team committed the cardinal sin of trailing in a set after the switch, their serve going straight into the net to make it 10-6 Austria. The Dutch then rattled off three straight to get back within a point, getting the sideout, which was followed by an unforced error on the Austrian side, and then a Meeuwsen block to make it 10-9. Huber and Seidl came back to get the sideout ahead of side change number four at 11-9. It continued to be sideout after sideout, which favoured the Dutch side. The Austrians reached point first after a joust with Meeuwsen — not so easy to win — to make it 14-11. Huber and Seidl continued their remarkable run by putting away their first match point, and roared in celebration. They certainly earned it, with three hard-fought wins in one day's work.
Full Day Three results
Men
Knockout Round 1
Sidorenko/Dyachenko d. Popov/Samoday (21-19, 21-11)
Huber/Seidl d. Doherty/Rogers (15-21, 24-22, 15-13)
Pedro/Bruno d. J Smedins/Samoilovs (22-24, 33-31, 15-11)
Prokopiev/Bogatov d. Brink/Fuchs (24-22, 18-21, 21-19)
Xu/Gao d. Spijkers/Van de Velde (21-18, 21-16)
Kadziola/Szalankiewicz d. Gavira/García (19-21, 21-13, 16-14)
Semenov/Koshkarev d. Chen/Li (21-17, 21-15)
Knockout Round 2
Brouwer/Meeuwsen d. Sidorenko/Dyachenko (21-10, 22-20)
Huber/Seidl d. Gibb/Patterson (21-18, 21-18)
Pedro/Bruno d. Erdmann/Matysik (21-15, 21-13)
Nicolai/Lupo d. Prokopiev/Bogatov (21-8, 21-14)
Ricardo/Álvaro Filho d. Xu/Gao (21-17, 18-21, 15-10)
Dollinger/Windscheif d. Vitor Felipe/Evandro (22-20, 21-19)
Fijalek/Prudel d. Kadziola/Szalankiewicz (18-21, 22-20, 15-12)
Rosenthal/Dalhausser d. Semenov/Koshkarev (21-18, 21-18)
Knockout Round 3
Huber/Seidl d. Brouwer/Meeuwsen (18-21, 21-10, 15-11)
Nicolai/Lupo d. Pedro/Bruno (23-21, 21-19)
Ricardo/Álvaro Filho d. Dollinger/Windscheif (21-17, 21-19)
Rosenthal/Dalhausser d. Fijalek/Prudel (21-16, 21-19)
Women
Pool Play final day
Pool A
Xue/Zhang Xi d. Ukolova/Popova via injury forfeit
Dampney/Boulton d. Khomyakova/Prokopeva (21-18, 26-24)
Final Pool A standing:
1. Xue/Zhang Xi 3-0
2. Ukolova/Popova 2-1
3. Dampney/Boulton 1-2
4. Khomyakova/Prokopeva 0-3
Pool B
Keizer/Van Iersel d. Ludwig/Walkenhorst via injury forfeit
Schwaiger/Schwaiger d. Wang Fang/Ding Jingjing (21-12, 21-17)
Final Pool B standing:
1. Keizer/Van Iersel 3-0
2. Schwaiger/Schwaiger 2-1
3. Wang Fan/Ding Jingjing 1-2
4. Ludwig/Walkenhorst 0-3 (all three were injury forfeits)
Pool C
Cicolari/Menegatti d. Borger/Büthe (21-14, 21-18)
Hansel/Schützenhöfer d. Baweden/Clancy (21-16, 14-21, 15-11)
Final Pool C standing:
1. Cicolari/Menegatti 2-1
2. Hansel/Schützenhöfer 2-1
3. Borger/Büthe 2-1
4. Bawden/Clancy 0-3 Two three-setters, and the third was (21-19, 25-23). Got to be agonising
Pool D
Ross/Kessy d. Zumkehr/Heidrich (21-23, 21-10, 15-10)
Kolosninska/Brzostek d. Fendrick/Branagh (21-17, 15-21, 19-17)
Final Pool D standing:
1. Ross/Kessy 3-0
2. Zumkehr/Heidrich 2-1
3. Kolosninska/Brzostek 1-2
4. Fendrick/Branagh 0-3 Disappointing for them
Pool E
Holtwick/Semmler d. Lili/Seixas (21-18, 26-24)
Fopma/Sweat d. Forrer/Vergé-Dépré (21-19, 21-19)
Final Pool E standing:
1. Holtwick/Semmler 3-0
2. Lili/Seixas 2-1
3. Fopma/Sweat 1-2
4. Forrer/Vergé-Dépré 0-3
Pool F
Kolocova/Slukova d. Liliana/Baquerizo (21-18, 21-19)
Ross/Hochevar d. Bansley/Maloney (21-13, 21-10)
Final Pool F standing:
1. Liliana/Baquerizo 2-1
2. Kolocova/Slukova 2-1
3. Ross/Hochevar 2-1
4. Bansley/Maloney 0-3
Pool G
Maria/Agatha d. Van Gestel/Meppelink (18-21, 23-21, 15-13)
Broder/Valjas d. Mashkova/Tsimbalova (24-26, 21-17, 15-7)
Final Pool G standing:
1. Maria/Agatha 3-0
2. Van Gestel/Meppelink 2-1
3. Broder/Valjas 1-2
4. Mashkova/Tsimbalova 0-3
Pool H
Talita/Taiana d. Yue/Ma (21-18, 21-19)
Bonnerova/Hermannova d. Gioria/Giombini (21-16, 21-17)
Final Pool H standing:
1. Talita/Taiana 3-0
2. Bonnerova/Hermannova 2-1
3. Yue/Ma 1-2
4. Gioria/Giombini 0-3
Knockout round 1
Wang Fan/Ding Jingjing d. Hansel/Schützenhöfer (21-18, 21-18)
Lili/Seixas d. Borger/Büthe (22-20, 21-17)
Zumkehr/Heidrich d. Dampney/Boulton (21-14, 22-20) A spirited effort against a doubtlessly better team
Kolocova/Slukova d. Yue/Ma (16-21, 22-20, 17-15)
Broder/Valjas d. Ukolova/Popova via injury forfeit
Bonnerova/Hermannova d. Fopma/Sweat (20-22, 21-18, 20-18)
Schwaiger/Schwaiger d. Ross/Hochevar (23-25, 21-19, 15-10)
Van Gestel/Meppelink d. Kolosninska/Brzostek (21-18, 19-21, 16-14)
Tomorrow's schedule
Tomorrow the men conclude their tournament, playing both semifinals as well as both the gold and bronze medal finals. These are the semifinals:
Huber/Seidl vs. Nicolai/Lupo
Ricardo/Álvaro Filho vs. Rosenthal/Dalhausser
The women will start off with round 2 of the knockout stage. Here are those pairings:
Xue/Zhang Xi vs. Wang Fan/Ding Jingjing
Lili/Seixas vs. Talita/Taiana
Holtwick/Semmler vs. Zumkehr/Heidrich
Kolocova/Slukova vs. Ross/Kessy
Cicolari/Menegatti vs. Broder/Valjas
Bonnerova/Hermannova vs. Liliana/Baquerizo
Maria/Agatha vs. Schwaiger/Schwaiger
Van Gestel/Meppelink vs. Keizer/Van Iersel
Interestingly, 3 of the 8 matches are two teams from the same country facing each other.
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