Jen and April would have to do a lot to impress, with the stature they’ve attained. They impressed today.
Today the action of the preceding days was made significant in terms of who played when and how often. Teams that had not lost yet would play last and need only one win to advance to the gold medal final. Teams who had lost the earliest of any of the teams still alive would play first and potentially play three matches today. All of it sets up the gold and bronze medal finals tomorrow. In a Grand Slam, the semifinals and the two finals are all played on the same day, but this is an Open. Different structure.
Jennifer Kessy and April Ross (USA) vs. Maria Tsiartsiani and Vasiliki Arvaniti (GRE)
No, this was not the first match of the day. The Russia/Finland match kicked off the day's action, but you'll forgive me if I just could not muster up a crap to give about either of those teams. The coverage didn't start until halfway through the first set, I was still finishing the NC State/Wake Forest report, and honestly, I really don't know the first thing about either of them. I've watched a ton of volleyball this week, so give me one hour to just watch and not have to report 😛 It wasn't a hugely interesting match anyway. This one, though, had the potential to be a very good one.
It seems this round of the tournament is televised somewhere, because a camera on a swinging crane arm kept obstructing the view of the camera I was connected to. The first rally of the match was impressively long, with Ross at last putting it away. The second rally was quite long, too, showing great defense on both sides and ending with a kill for Kessy. Amid several more long rallies, the Greeks knotted the match at 3. A service error put the Americans up 4-3 at the side change.
The PA announcer noted that these two teams have faced each other eleven times before, and Kessy/Ross won all eleven. The next seven points also went 4-3 in the American team's favor, making it 8-6 at the second side change. The Greeks called time after Ross snuck a float serve in for an ace to get it to 9-6. The Greek team played a very good point on 11-8, after Ross' let-serve got them out of system at first. They regrouped and scored on a soft cross-court shot that just got down in front of a diving Ross. From there they managed to tie the score at 12.
At the fourth side change, Ross and Kessy were up 15-13, a very smart shot from Kessy giving them the slim advantage. When they came back on the court, the Greeks took the lead for the first time since very early in the set, their run to 17-15 culminating with two big blocks from Tsiartsiani. That prompted Kessy and Ross to call time. The timeout did little to staunch the run, which extended to 19-15 before a cross-court kill from Ross finally ended it. This is not a team that usually gives up six straight points. From 20-16, the American team fended off three set points but could not quite draw even, losing by the eventual 21-19 tally.
Just like the first set, the second began with four of the first seven points going the Americans' way. Kessy was very active on the rally at 6-5, skying and hitting the sand before finding the line to put the Americans up 2 for the first time in the set. Again just like the first set, the second side change happened with the Americans up 8-6. Again just like the first set, the first point back was a service ace leading to a Greek timeout. Seriously, what the hell, guys? The similarities ended there, though, as the Greeks did not draw even as the set wore on. Kessy and Ross added to their advantage a little late in the set, going up 19-13 at one point. Tsiartsiani and Arvaniti ran it back a little, but a disputed line/out call on 19-16 went against them, and they were not happy about that. They protested with the up referee for close a to a minute before play resumed. They very nearly ran it even again, as a service ace brought them to 20-18. But the Americans put it away on the next point to won the set by a 21-18 count and force the race to 15.
It was another sun-boiled day in Bangsaen, and players were again permitted to hydrate during side changes in contravention of usual rules. It wasn't strictly sideout after sideout in the third set, as there were occasional points taken on serve, but the first 2-point lead wasn't until the Americans went up 7-5 on a let-serve ace. The Greeks called time at that point.
After some sideouts, Arvaniti knotted the set at 9 with a perfect line shot past Kessy. Kessy returned the favor with a kill on the next rally, and Ross came up big with a block to re-establish the Americans' 2-point lead at 11-9. Ross smartly saved would could have been an equalizer when Kessy had to dive for a let-serve. Instead of trying to set the ball high for Kessy, Ross sent it over on 2 and found open court. She then got the match to its first match point at 14-11 with a perfectly-positioned block. The Greeks staved off the first match point on serve receive, and then the second on a wide swing by Kessy, leading to an American timeout. Kessy found the line on the first point back from the timeout to advance the Americans.
This was a very tight match, and I'd wager it was probably the closest of the now 12 wins Kessy and Ross have had over this duo. A let-serve here, a line call there, that was really all the difference there was here. And even in a sport as inherently tight and even as beach volleyball, that's not much.
Anna Vozakova and Anastasia Vasina (RUS) vs. Evgenia Ukolova and Ekaterina Khomyakova (RUS)
Yippee ki-yay, mother Russia! Unless one of these teams subsequently plays Kessy/Ross in one of the finals, this is the matchup with the lowest combined seeding in the tournament. Which should mean some pretty high quality 'ball.
After a long stretch of sideouts to start off, Vozakova and Vasina ran off three on serve to go up 8-6 at the second side change. Ukolova and Khomyakova quickly neutralized this advantage, knotting the set at 9. The PA announcer humorously forgot that it was two Russian teams a couple of times, saying "point Russia" when a rally ended. During this match, Khomyakova's right shoulder was covered in kinesiotape, the product that sounds like it was named by Portal 2's Cave Johnson. Who could question a name that sciencey?
This set was quite evenly contested. To go along with the heat, the wind picked up as this one went on. I imagine that gave a little reprieve from the air temperature, but it surely brought its own difficulties in terms of serve and shot placement. Vozakova and Vasina at last broke the deadlock by going up 2 at 16-14 when the other side fell out of system a little defending a couple of hard hits. It was knotted again at 18 when Vasina swung wide. Khomyakova and Ukolova got the first set point at 20-19, but of course the first one wasn't converted. Khomyakova and Ukolova finally closed it out 24-22 with a service ace.
Other than those specific instances I mentioned, it was sideout after sideout. A ridiculously evenly-matched set.
And then, strangely, the match was over. At first, the interval between sets was going to be extended by a five-minute medical timeout (which happens sometimes), and then it was announced that Vozakova and Vasina were forfeiting. I'm not sure why. Nobody looked like they were playing hurt, and the hyper-competitiveness of the one set which was played didn't make it seem like anyone was hurt. Nothing conspicuous happened during the set either. So I dunno.
Kessy/Ross (USA) vs. Irina Tsimbalova and Tatyana Mashkova (KAZ)
So we see how staying in the winner's bracket as long as possible is to your advantage. I really don't have a clue about this Kazakh team and I wouldn't expect them to be much trouble for Kessy and Ross, but entering this match Kessy and Ross had 5 matches in Bangsaen under their belts while Tsimbalova and Mashkova had played only 4. But that didn't really seem to have much of an effect.
The wind picked up considerably during this match, to the point that you could hear it as well as see it. After a few straight sideouts to start, the Americans ran five straight on Kessy's serve to go up 9-4 before the Kazakhs finally called time to staunch the run. Mashkova did indeed stop the run with a nicely-placed line shot, and they little by little chipped into the deficit, which is usually all you can do in beach volleyball. Little by little. At the automatic timeout, the difference was 12-9.
The Americans came out strong out of the automatic timeout, with an ace and a sneaky shot on two, both off the hand of Ross, to go up five.
For the first time, I heard crowd members partisan to the American side, as a brief "U-S-A! U-S-A!" chant started. From that first 5-point lead that Kessy and Ross had, it was sideout after sideout until the Kazakhs closed from 19-14 to 19-17. That got the Americans to call time, but the Kazakh run extended after the timeout, putting what looked like a cinch first-set win briefly into jeopardy. Ross finally got them to set point at 20-18 by powering through the block, and they converted on serve to go up one set to none.
Set two was more of what I expected — Kessy and Ross dominance. They took the early lead at 4-1 and after the Kazakhs at first closed to 4-3, the Americans ran back out to 7-3 and the deficit was never less than 3 the rest of the set. Not much else to say about the second set. It was fun to watch, but it didn't really lend itself to commentary.
Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas (BRA) vs. Ukolova and Khomyakova (RUS)
This was the first tournament semifinal, with the winner advancing to play for gold tomorrow and the loser advancing to play for bronze. So basically everything that happened up to this point got thrown out, because Agatha and Seixas could lose and not be able to win the whole tournament, the only time (other than the gold medal final itself) where a team's first loss precludes that possibility. Were Ukolova and Khomyakova to lose, they could end up bearing three losses in what's supposed to be a double-elimination tournament. My advice? Don't think about it too much.
Starting from this match, I got to watch what those cameras on crane arms were shooting, which is a bit of an improvement over the single, essentially surveillance camera. The one disadvantage, though, is when your point of view changes you can never be sure what to think on line/out calls. And we all like making those for ourselves, don't we? There are other advantages to a fixed point of view as well, surely. That's (one of countless reasons) why nothing beats being there in person. I feel a bit bad for the people just tuning in on whatever TV is showing this, because they're not getting the proper context. This first match doesn't need much, but the second semifinal is rife with it.
This was the first time Agatha/Seixas have made an FIVB tour tournament semifinal. Ukolova/Khomyakova have two medals, including a gold, in the last three events. These two teams played once before, with the Russian team winning in three sets. The TV commentator to whom I was able to connect at this point mentioned that Vozakova and Vasina retired in the previous match because of heat exhaustion.
The Russians took an early 4-1 lead in the first set, with Khomyakova's front-line block proving stifling. The teams switched sides with the Russian duo up 5-2. They ran it up to 7-2 on Ukolova's serve; the TV commentator suggested that they were the worse for not having played earlier in the day. Agatha's serve receive failed on 8-3, for about the third time, putting Russia rather surprisingly up by six. Brazil played their best point in advance of the second side change, but still trailed 9-5.
The Russians ran out to 13-8 at the automatic timeout, on the strength of two fine points from Khomyakova. Firstly, Ukolova's serve reception left her wide open for an easy kill on two, and she followed that up with a great service ace. Brazil called time down seven at 17-10, as Agatha again lost track of a serve. The Russians ran to 19-10 coming out of the timeout, as Ukolova made a terrific diving dig to set up her partner, with Khomyakova following it up with another service ace against the surprisingly hapless-looking Brazilian duo. After the Brazilians got two on Seixas' serve to close to 19-13, the Russians took their timeout. Seixas gave the Russians set point coming back with a serve that went about 8 feet long. Set point from her was closer on the line, but ruled out, giving it to the Russians 21-13.
The second set started out much more competitive. It was sideout after sideout through to 4-4 when the Russians were called for double contact. They protested the call quite vehemently, and were assessed a yellow card (not sure if it counts to the team or to one of them individually — it's not like there are substitutions in beach volleyball). That put Brazil up 5-4, and they ran off two more with an emphatic block from Agatha to force Russia's timeout. The run extended to 8-4 coming out of the timeout. The Russians chipped into the advantage a little, but Brazil led 12-9 at the automatic timeout.
Ukolova and Khomyakova took the first two back from the timeout though, and slowly built up to their first advantage of the set at 16-15. Ukolova smashed a kill to get them to 17-15, prompting Brazil's timeout. A string of sideouts followed. Brazil had a chance to draw even at 18, but Ukolova's sterling defense got the Russians a second swing to keep the string of sideouts going. The Russian team made a couple of errors leading 19-17, on serve and then on hitting, to knot the match at 19. They managed to side out on the next point to get the first match point at 20-19, but Brazil staved it off. Agatha got Brazil their first set point of the match with an emphatic ace off Ukolova, and they converted it to force the decider.
Agatha got Brazil out to an early lead in the decider with some great blocking. The Russian duo drew even and kept it even until Seixas' ace made it 6-4 at the second side change. After another string of sideouts, the Russians drew even at 9 with Khomyakova's block. Agatha was also pretty strong at the net in this deciding set. Ukolova gave the Brazilians their 2-point lead again with a long hit. Brazil couldn't side their way out to glory, though, as Khomyakova's ace drew it level one more at 12. The crowd was partisan in favor of the Brazilian team. Khomyakova gave the Russians their second match point of the afternoon with a powerful kill to make it 14-13. Regrettably, this exciting match had an anticlimactic ending — Agatha's attempt at a sneaky soft shot went into the net to send the Russians to the gold medal final.
Lauren Fendrick and Nicole Branagh (USA) vs. Kessy/Ross (USA)
Now talk about a match with context. This match already happened once this week, with Fendrick and Branagh the victors in three sets (21-19, 17-21, 15-11). It was Kessy and Ross' seventh match of the tournament, but more significantly, it was their third match today. That had me thinking Fendrick and Branagh, first-time partners, had to be favored to advance and play for gold.
The first set was one of several runs. Fendrick and Branagh ran out to a quick 6-1 advantage at the first side change, with errors from the other side of the net to help them there. Kessy and Ross closed to 7-5 at one point, but after a let-serve ace for Fendrick she and Branagh went up 9-5 at the second side change. Their lead extended to 10-5, but Kessy and Ross ran back to 11-9 on Kessy's serve. It was 12-9 at the automatic timeout, but Fendrick and Branagh again ran back to 16-10 prompting Kessy and Ross' timeout. Kessy and Ross closed to 17-13 after the timeout, but got no closer, with Branagh and Fendrick closing it out 21-15.
Kessy and Ross took the advantage first in set number two at 5-3, and then fortuitously turned defense into offense when a dig went to the other side and landed in the corner of the court to go up 6-3. The lead extended to 7-3 before Branagh and Fendrick called time. Sideout after sideout held the margin to the second side change, as Kessy and Ross led 9-5. And it was even more of the same to the automatic timeout, with Kessy and Ross ahead 13-8. From there, though, Kessy and Ross took control. Their lead extended to 17-10 with an immaculate block by Ross, and Fendrick and Branagh's defense and serve receive really fell flat as the set wore on. The Olympic runners-up forced the decider with a big 21-11 win.
After a string of sideouts to start the decider, Kessy and Ross took a wild rally at 4-4 that involved both of them hitting the sand and Ross setting Kessy's winning swing from flat on her back. They took the next point as well to go up 2, as Fendrick and Branagh's defense still wasn't as crisp as it had been in the first set. The third set was mostly sideout after sideout, with Kessy and Ross taking a 3-point lead at 10-7 after Branagh just missed an angle shot wide. Fendrick gave Kessy and Ross a 4-point edge with her own hitting error, and the edge extended to 5 on a very long rally. It's a testament to Kessy and Ross' conditioning that in their third match, their eighth set of the day, in such sweltering heat, they were still as crisp as ever. With a service ace to bring it to 13-7, it was all but over. Kessy and Ross closed it out 15-8 to advance to the gold medal final.
This was a good match, but I was hoping for better. Fendrick and Branagh were so sharp in the first set, but as sharp as they were then, that's as dull as they were in sets two and three. They'll have their hands full with Agatha and Seixas in the bronze medal final. All the same, Kessy and Ross winning three matches in one day, and in the end beating rather emphatically a team that beat them earlier in the week, is a big result. Surprisingly, this is the first gold medal final for them on the FIVB tour this season. They do have one previous medal, a bronze from the Rome Grand Slam.
Full Day Three results
Losers ranked 7th
#4 Vozakova/Vasina (RUS) d. #20 Nystrom/Lahti (FIN) (21-16, 21-13)
#2 Kessy/Ross (USA) d. #6 Tsiartsiani/Arvaniti (GRE) (19-21, 21-18, 15-13)
Losers ranked 5th
#3 Ukolova/Khomyakova (RUS) d. Vozakova/Vasina (24-22, forfeit)
Kessy/Ross d. #8 Tsimbalova/Mashkova (KAZ) (21-18, 21-15)
Semifinals
Ukolova/Khomyakova d. #5 Agatha/Seixas (BRA) (21-13, 20-22, 15-13)
Kessy/Ross d. #7 Fendrick/Branagh (USA) (15-21, 21-11, 15-8)
Tomorrow's schedule
Bronze medal final
Agatha/Seixas vs. Fendrick/Branagh
Gold medal final
Ukolova/Khomyakova vs. Kessy/Ross
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