One of these ladies was back in action today (photo credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Beach volleyball's got one of the quickest turnarounds of any Olympic sport. It was just a week ago that Misty May-Treanor rode off into the sunset with her third Olympic championship, with her longtime teammate and friend Kerri Walsh Jennings celebrating with her on the top step of the podium.
But, as we knew going in, while this was the end of the road for Misty, it wasn't for Kerri. She plans to culminate her career in a run at a plainly absurd fourth consecutive gold medal in Rio. The journey of four years starts with a single step, and that single step was today.
Kerri's new partner, at least for this tournament, is Nicole Branagh, a player who matches her style pretty closely. Whereas Kerri and Misty had a pretty clear delineation of who took to the net, who was most responsible for defense, and who got most opponent serves, it's not quite so obvious with Kerri and Nicole. Their near-identical physical makeup, if not skills, make the question of who to serve a bit of "pick your poison."
Time will tell if Branagh is Walsh Jennings' new partner for the long-term (she has other partners planned for events later in the season), but for today things went reasonably well.
Truth be told, today was actually day three of the Poland tournament, but it was day one for anyone who matters. The last two days were spent getting the eight final qualifiers into the main draw (today was the second and final day of qualifying on the men's side — their main draw begins tomorrow).
As it was in the Olympic final, the first opponent for Walsh Jennings in this new phase of her career was a duo of fellow Americans. Facing them down were Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Hanson, a veteran team who have been caught behind May/Walsh and other duos like Jennifer Kessy/April Ross and Holly McPeak/Elaine Youngs (and Branagh/Youngs, for that matter) for chances to represent the USA in championship play.
And it didn't take long for Branagh and Walsh Jennings to assert their dominance. After a fairly even start, Branagh put the team up for good at 8-6 with a sneaky soft shot on two after a terrific diving dig from Walsh Jennings. A run to 11-6 followed, and that was more than enough to ensure that they took the first set. The team with two six-footers showed vastly superior net play, and sealed the deal with a service ace that probably should have been played.
Both Branagh and Walsh Jennings showed some power at the start of set 2 with repeated kills and stuff blocks. The point of the match probably came on 13-8, and a long rally ended with Branagh in the net. A 3-point lead gradually became a 5-point lead, and it looked pretty much over, but Fendrick and Hanson hung tough to draw within 19-17 and then 20-19 after a service ace, but they were unable to stave off the last match point. Branagh ended the proceedings with a thunderous kill. Hanson pounded the sand in frustration.
The second match of the day for Kerri and Nicole was a curious affair. Going up against the Austrian duo of Barbara Hansel and Magdalena Jirak, Branagh/Walsh Jennings actually lost the first set, the first set Kerri's dropped since the knockout stage quarterfinals of the Gstaad Grand Slam against Kessy/Ross over a month ago. And their play looked sloppy — lots of hitting errors, and excellent defense from Hansel/Jirak on the attacks that came down in the field of play. That said, though, it was still competitive — 21-19 was the final mark.
Set 2 started out just as competitive. It wasn't until a block from Walsh Jennings that gave the Americans a 12-10 lead that anybody was up by more than a single point. Another block gave them a 15-12 lead, and holy crap what happened next.
In beach volleyball, winning even a single point on your serve is an advantage. Beach volleyball is all about the tiny little advantages you have to exploit constantly to come away a winner. Most points end in sideouts. So rattling off a run of two or three or four points in a row at any time during the set is usually enough to make you the winner.
From 15-12, Hansel/Jirak never scored again in set 2. The Americans took the set home on Kerri's serve to even the match at 1-1. True, the Austrians played their part in this — only two of the six final points of the set were kills for the Americans — but that's still not a run you see very often.
And that was only the halfway point.
Branagh took the serve to start the third set, the race to 15. And this race was half over before Hansel and Jirak even got out of the starting blocks. A double hit put the Americans up 2-0, a hitting error put them up 3-0, another ball handling error to 4-0, a Walsh Jennings stuff block to 5-0, a Branagh kill to 6-0, another Kerri block to put the Americans up a full touchdown 7-0. They rattled off thirteen straight points between the two sets. That just….that doesn't happen. At least not without a massive gulf in talent between the two teams, and the first set didn't suggest that that size of a gulf really was there.
It was at this point that an insect began crawling on the one stationary camera shooting the match, and eewww creepy crawlies! But there wasn't a whole lot left to see. The Austrians finally got back on the scoreboard at 7-1, and it was mostly sideout after sideout from then on. Walsh Jennings took control of a joust at the top of the net to win it 15-8.
So what's the report for Walsh Jennings and Branagh on day one? A solid A-minus. They were briefly challenged in both matches today, but they were dominant when they had to be, and should be well on their way to securing the first round-bye in the knockout stage.
Other notes from day one:
Talita/Maria (BRA) vs. Montagnolli/Kaiser (AUT)
This was the first match of the day that I got to see, and it was just as competitive as I figured it wouldn't be. Talita and Maria are probably only the second or third-best Brazilian team, but that still easily makes them top 5 in the world. The match began fairly evenly, but the Brazilian team seized control after winning a long rally to go up 12-8. With far superior net play and service (and serve receive, but there weren't too many sideouts as the match wore on), the Brazilians went on an 8-2 run to go up 20-10. The Austrians staved off two set points, but they couldn't stave off ten, as a powerful spike ended it 21-12.
Aside from a humorous moment early in set 2 when Talita lost her hat and flubbed a pass, it was more of the same in set 2. From 4-1, the Brazilians looked to be playing conservatively, opting to trade sideouts until they came to victory. And, really, why not? Something clicked on 12-9, though. A service ace brought the score to 13-9, and it was 18-10 before I knew it. To the Austrians' credit, the point of the match was probably the very last one, as the last ball traveled over the net several times before a diving dig and smash kill on the Brazilian side ended this set with the same score as the first, 21-12.
Surprisingly, though, Talita and Maria lost their second match of the day, in straight sets to the Germans Karla Borger and Britta Büthe. They look well on their way to winning Pool D as the #20 seed.
Larissa and Juliana survive a scare
Over on the other court, Talita and Maria's countrywomen Larissa and Juliana had all they could handle from a spunky Dutch duo Michelle Stiekema and Rimke Braakman. Larissa and Juliana entered this tournament as the #3 seed, and they were the #1 seed at the Olympics (Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor were slightly downgraded due to not having played much since the last Olympics). Stiekema and Braakman are the #30 seed — and there's 32 teams in the tournament. I only caught the tailend of this match, but the score suggests it was indeed quite competitive (or a stalemate) — Larissa/Juliana took the first set 21-18 and Stiekema/Braakman the second 21-19.
And that's how it went in the third. Larissa and Juliana had a slight advantage as I joined the match (either they were up a point and serving, or up two on serve receive). The Dutch team was never able to fully turn that corner and draw even, and the Brazilian powerhouses snuck away with a 15-13 win in the third. I don't know if it was jet lag, or Olympic fatigue, or what, but they should have eaten this team for breakfast, and instead they could easily have lost.
Both teams posted the same result in their second match of the day, with the Dutch team again losing a 3-set heartbreaker, 15-10 in the third.
Kolosninska/Brzostek (POL) vs. Ukolova/Khomyakova (RUS)
This was a fun match between two young, spirited teams. The crowd was obviously highly partisan in favor of the Polish duo, but their poor serve receive and judgment and hitting attempts from the Russian side dug them in a hole they couldn't get out of, dropping the first set 21-16. And despite the crowd getting behind them with irrepressible chants of "Pol-ska! Pol-ska!" the second set went no better for them, with the Russian duo wrapping it up in two.
It was a rough day altogether for the home nation. There are three Polish duos in the tournament, and with each of them playing twice, they could only muster a single win for the home fans in those six matches.
At the halfway point of the day, the courts were taken over by qualifying matches for the men's tournament. Center court played a curious Polish-language version of "If You're Happy and You Know It" to the seeming delight of the fans. An American duo featuring…John Mayer…no not THAT John Mayer, this John Mayer…then played for a spot in the main draw, but they were handily defeated by a Czech team.
Holtwick/Semmler (GER) vs. Forrer/Vergé-Dépré (SUI)
This was a good, competitive match. The Swiss team jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but the Germans drew even to 7-7, 9-9, and then took the lead at 12-11. A long run of sideouts, to 19-19, followed, and a Swiss kill on serve and a block ended it at 21-19. After that long run of sideouts in the first set, the second set was all about streaky play. The Germans jumped out to a 6-3 advantage — the Swiss rattled off a run of their own to go up 9-7, and then 13-9. The Germans fought back to knot it at 15 and take the advantage 18-17. A sneaky let serve got the German team to set point at 20-18, but Swiss staved it off and fought back to 20-20. Several sideouts later, the Swiss eventually took one on serve to win it 25-23.
One big upset
The Italian duo of Greta Cicolari and Marta Menegatti entered this tournament as the #2 seed (only Kessy/Ross are rated higher). They were the #7 seed in the Olympic tournament, and only running into May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings in the quarterfinals kept them from playing for a medal.
So they might have been overlooking the #31 seeded German team of Geeske Banck and Kira Walkenhorst. I didn't see a point of this match, but the upstart Germans turned a major upset by winning (26-24, 21-17). The Italians shook off the loss to beat the #18 seeded Belgian team, and Banck and Walkenhorst couldn't turn the trick against the #15 seeds from Greece, meaning all four teams are 1-1 going into tomorrow's second day of pool play. Anyone could still get the knockout stage bye from this pool, and anyone could still be left behind altogether. This is also the case in Pool F.
Full Day One Results
Pool A
#1 Kessy/Ross (USA) d. #32 Pregowska/Bekier (POL) (21-13, 21-6)
#17 Dubovcova/Nestarcova (SVK) d. #16 Maria Clara/Lili (BRA) (13-21, 21-17, 15-11)
Kessy/Ross d. Dubovcova/Nestarcova (21-11, 21-13)
Maria Clara/Lili d. Pregowska/Bekier (21-14, 21-13)
Pool B
#31 Banck/Walkenhorst (GER) d. #2 Cicolari/Menegatti (ITA) (26-24, 21-17)
#18 Mouha/Gielen (BEL) d. #15 Tsiartsiani/Arvaniti (GRE) (21-14, 21-16)
Cicolari/Menegatti d. Mouha/Gielen (21-18, 21-16)
Tsiartsiani/Arvaniti d. Banck/Walkenhorst (21-15, 21-19)
Pool C
#3 Larissa/Juliana (BRA) d. #30 Stiekema/Braakman (NED) (21-18, 19-21, 15-13)
#19 Liliana/Baquerizo (ESP) d. #14 Klapalova/Hajeckova (CZE) (20-22, 21-19, 15-8)
Larissa/Juliana d. Liliana/Baquerizo (21-12, 21-19)
Klapalova/Hajeckova d. Stiekema/Braakman (21-15, 15-21, 15-10)
Pool D
#4 Talita/Maria (BRA) d. #29 Montagnolli/Kaiser (AUT) (21-12, 21-12)
#20 Borger/Büthe (GER) d. #13 Vozakova/Vasina (RUS) (15-21, 21-17, 15-10)
Borger/Büthe d. Talita/Maria (21-15, 21-13)
Vozakova/Vasina d. Montagnolli/Kaiser (21-15, 21-8)
Pool E #5
Meppelink/van Gestel (NED) d. #28 Hansel/Jirak (AUT) (22-20, 21-19)
#12 Branagh/Walsh Jennings (USA) d. #21 Fendrick/Hanson (USA) (21-14, 21-19)
Fendrick/Hanson d. Meppelink/van Gestel (21-19, 14-21, 15-12)
Branagh/Walsh Jennings d. Hansel/Jirak (19-21, 21-12, 15-8)
Pool F
#6 Holtwick/Semmler (GER) d. #27 Akers/Hochevar (USA) (21-17, 21-15)
#11 Bawden/Hinchley (AUS) d. #22 Forrer/Vergé-Dépré (SUI) (22-20, 12-21, 15-12)
Forrer/Vergé-Dépré d. Holtwick/Semmler (21-19, 25-23)
Akers/Hochevar d. Bawden/Hinchley (21-10, 21-17)
Pool G
#7 Kolocova/Slukova (CZE) d. #26 Goricanec/Graessli (SUI) (19-21, 21-19, 15-11)
#23 Agatha/Seixas (BRA) d. #10 Woloszyn/Suwinska (POL) (21-15, 21-15)
Agatha/Seixas d. Kolocova/Slukova (21-15, 21-15)
Goricanec/Graessli d. Woloszyn/Suwinska (21-13, 21-13)
Pool H
#8 Kuhn/Zumkehr (SUI) d. #25 Bieneck/Großner (GER) (11-21, 21-18, 15-13)
#24 Ukolova/Khomyakova (RUS) d. #9 Kolosinska/Brzostek (POL) (21-16, 22-20)
Kuhn/Zumkehr d. Ukolova/Khomyakova (21-17, 21-18)
Kolosinska/Brzostek d. Bieneck/Großner (21-16, 21-16)
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