Emanuel and Alison, the top-seeded Brazilian duo, were back in action, but they faced an unexpected stiff test (photo credit: FIVB)
Today was a busy day in Stare Jablonki, with the women finishing up pool play and starting their knockout stage, and the men beginning pool play.
The Americans Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser were back in action for the first time since their Olympic disappointment, and likewise their countrymen Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal. Also back on the court were Olympic runners-up Alison and Emanuel and the Latvian bronze medalists Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Jānis Šmēdiņš.
But the first match of the day paired up the top seeded team on the women's side, Kessy/Ross, with Maria Clara and Lili from Brazil. The Americans had the opportunity to win Pool A outright with a victory. The match started evenly. with the Americans taking the first 2-point lead on a let-serve ace. Another one straight after gave them a 3-point advantage. With Kessy directing traffic with her shouts of "line!" and "no one!" the Americans extended the lead to 4 at 10-6. Maria Clara and Lili drew to within 2 a couple of times, but were never able to draw completely even. Kessy showed great net play as the set went on, winning a joust and putting up a solid block on consecutive American points. I'm not exactly sure how this set ended; Brazil served down 20-14 and they were called for a fault of some sort, but the camera shooting the match didn't give a good view of the up referee.
Brazil took their first lead of the match early in the second set, with a service ace to 2-1 and some strong defense leading to kill at 3-1. The Americans drew even at 3 to lead to a long stretch of consecutive sideouts. Maria Clara and Lili took the advantage from 9-8, running it up to 11-8 before the Americans tried to staunch the run with a timeout. It worked only briefly, as the sideout-fest continued. A hitting error from Ross ended it at 21-17 to lead to a third set.
After an even start in the third, the Americans took control with a run to 5-2 on Kessy's serve. Maria Clara and Lili called timeout after that, but the advantage held as the teams traded sideouts for a while. A service error put Kessy and Ross up 8-5, and then a run on Ross's serve got them to 11-5. The Brazilians made it competitive, drawing to within 12-10 after a service ace, but Kessy and Ross put the match away with three straight to win the third set 15-10. This was one of the longest matches of the day, clocking in at 48 minutes, giving Kessy and Ross a well-deserved bye to the second round of the knockout stage (meaning the rest of day two off).
Alison and Emanuel tested
I didn't get to see much of this match, but the top-seeded men's duo Alison and Emanuel were severely tested by the bottom-seeded qualifiers Andrei Zharykau and Aliaksandr Kavalenka. They barely won a back-and-forth first set by a 21-19 score. What I was able to see was just sideout after sideout, with the final reflecting a tiny advantage for the heavily favored Brazilian duo.
The second set was much the same, only with the Belarussians actually taking the win 21-19. Unfortunately, lovers of underdogs, the probable best team in the world was able to just hold on in the third 15-12. But it was quite a wake-up call.
Gibb/Rosenthal vs. Popov/Samoday
Thanks to Kessy/Ross vs. Maria Clara/Lili going so long, this match started 7 minutes behind schedule. The result put the next team to take to this court even further behind.
The Americans started strong with a run on Rosenthal's serve, but the Ukrainians drew even with a stuff block at 4-4. Nobody scored on serve again until Popov and Samoday did to go up 11-10. More and more sideouts followed — this was a very even first set. A hitting error from Gibb, who got most of the Ukrainians' serves, put Popov and Samoday up 13-11, the first time either side had a 2 point advantage. This was followed by a ball handling error on Gibb on an overhand set to put them behind by 3. They took timeout and drew to within 15-14 afterward, amid cheers of "That's the way!" and even "U-S-A! U-S-A!" from the crowd. But they wouldn't come any closer in the first set. A hitting error from Gibb ended the first set at 21-17 for the Ukrainian duo.
The point of the match came early in set 2, with a long rally ending on a blocking error by Rosenthal that he didn't seem to realize. Both teams celebrated the point until the Ukrainians got the next serve. At this point, the chants from the crowd were dueling, as both duos had their supporters. It was a really cool atmosphere. Popov and Samoday took a point on serve to go up 9-8, but from that point Gibb and Rosenthal took control. A run on Gibb's serve, with "Jake! Jake! Jake!" chants leading him on, put the Americans up 12-10. The Ukrainians could have drawn back to within 1 point later, but a bad hitting error on an attempt at a soft shot put Gibb and Rosenthal up at 15-12. The Ukrainians did draw back to 16-15, but never pulled even again, as a Gibb block ended proceedings at 21-18.
The third set was one of those classic tales of small advantages. The Americans went up early 3-1 after a hitting error into the net from the Ukrainian side, then led 6-3 on a ball handling error, 8-4 on a smash kill from Rosenthal, and then 13-8 after a long rally. The American duo put it away 15-9 after a Ukrainian hitting error on match point.
Two consecutive long matches on this court (Gibb and Rosenthal needed 53 minutes to beat the Ukrainian team) left a Brazil/Brazil matchup, Thiago and Bruno versus Pedro and Marcio, to start almost 10 minutes behind schedule. But the former team's clear superiority got the court back pretty much on schedule as they took two in a row by the same 21-17 score.
Walsh Jennings/Branagh vs. Meppelink/Van Gestel
This was the Olympic champion's first match on center court in this tournament. She started the match off with kind of a curious kill — she lunged for a spike to dig it, and it flew back over the net. Ordinarily this is just a free ball, and an easy opportunity for the other team to set their offense again, but this time it fell harmlessly for the first point of the match to the American side. The Dutch took control after that. They weren't intimidated by the two six-footers, showing great net play. Branagh got all the serves in the first set, and an ace off of her gave the Dutch a 5-2 advantage. Branagh's serve receive improved after that, and the Americans drew to 8-7 before a great diving dig from Walsh Jennings led to a wide open backcourt for her, to draw even at 8. But the Dutch again went on a run after the teams traded sideouts for a while. A wide hit from Branagh gave them their second 3 point lead of the match at 16-13, which they held to 18-15. Branagh served a couple of aces to knot it at 18, but Meppelink and van Gestel had the first set point at 20-19. Branagh staved it off with a great kill, and then a block from the Olympic champion gave the Americans their set point. A second block in a row gave them a well-earned 22-20 win in a set they very easily could have given up on.
Set 2 started off even. The Americans took the first 2 point advantage at 7-5, and then went up 8-5. After a Dutch timeout, a long rally ended with a net violation to bring Meppelink and van Gestel back to within 2 at 8-6. They then knotted it at 9 with strong hitting through Walsh Jennings' block and Branagh's backcourt defense. They then took a service ace to go up 10-9, but the Americans took control after that. They drew even at 11 and the Dutch never took the lead again, ending with a service ace to win the second set 21-17 to win the pool and take the bye to day 3.
Rogers/Dalhausser vs. Gabathuler/Gerson
This one was all about Dalhausser's stifling net play. The Swiss took early advantages at 3-1 and 6-4, but Dalhausser's block knotted it 8. Rogers got all the Swiss serves, as is usually the case for this duo, and mostly executed his hitting attempts. A hitting error from the Swiss side gave the Americans their first advantage at 9-8, and from there they never looked back. Dalhausser was a beast at the net, taking control on every block attempt leading to 12-9. An unlucky weird roll on the next point put the Americans up 4, as a block attempt from the Swiss duo rolled on the top of the net until it landed out of bounds on the other side. Another huge block from Dalhausser gave the Americans a 14-9 lead. Gabathuler and Gerson finally broke the run at that point, but the damage was done as the Americans took set 1 21-16.
Rogers and Dalhausser took immediate control in set 2 after Dalhausser's block attempt on 4-2 disoriented Gabathuler and Gerson, leading to a wide hit. The Americans slowly piled on to build an 11-7 advantage. The Swiss team drew back to 13-11, but came no closer. A big Dalhausser block gave the Americans a 19-15 advantage. Then came the weirdest point of the match — a long rally with neither team making a particularly hard swing at any point. It ended with a ball handling error on the Swiss team, giving Rogers and Dalhausser match point at 20-15. They staved off two, but not the third, with the Americans taking set 2 21-17.
Dyachenko/Sidorenko vs. Barsouk/Bogatov
Didn't get to see a whole lot of this match, but what there was was quite competitive. These were two strong, evenly matched teams, with the Kazakh duo coming out on top after two very even sets (21-19, 25-23). This leads to a winner-take-all match with Rogers and Dalhausser tomorrow for the pool, since they both went 2-0 today. Rogers and Dalhausser should be the heavy favorites, but the Kazakhs will play with nothing to lose and everything to gain, and that can be a little dangerous to the opposition. Should be fun stuff.
Samoilovs/Sorokins vs. Pļaviņš/Šmēdiņš
The surprise Olympic bronze medalists began their tournament with a match against a team of countrymen. Samoilovs and Šmēdiņš are in fact former partners, representing Latvia at the Beijing Olympics. It's safe to say Šmēdiņš' career has taken off since the partner switch.
After an even start, the Olympains took the first 2 point advantage at 9-7. A hitting error gave them a 3 point lead at 14-11, which led to Samoilovs and Sorokins taking timeout. The run went another point before a service error finally stopped it at 15-12. Another run put Šmēdiņš and Pļaviņš up 18-13. Samoilovs and Sorokins tried to make a game of it, closing to 18-16, but the Olympians put it away with a spike at 21-18.
The second set was less competitive, as Šmēdiņš and Pļaviņš jumped out to an early 7-3. Samoilovs and Sorokins took timeout there, but they could not draw even. It was a sideout fest for several points, and the closest they came was 12-10. A long run on serve for Šmēdiņš and Pļaviņš put them up 20-13, ending with a 21-15 final.
Surprisingly, though, Šmēdiņš and Pļaviņš lost their second match of the day to leave them an uphill road tomorrow to getting the knockout stage bye.
Alison/Emanuel vs. Matysk/Walkenhorst
Alison and Emanuel put their so-so first match behind them in a hurry, going out to a quick 4-1 advantage. The Germans drew even at 7, but never took the lead. A long run on Emanuel's serve got the Brazilians to 13-8, and then another later to 20-12. To the Germans' credit, they remained competitive, rallying to 20-16 and forcing a Brazil timeout before the set ended at 21-16.
Alison and Emanuel again jumped out to an early lead in set 2, as Emanuel scored back-to-back points off Alison's serve, with a block and then a kill. Much like in the first set, the Germans got it to 6-6 but never took the lead. Behind Emanuel's great hitting, the Brazilians got to a 3-point lead that essentially held steady the rest of the match. A netball service error from the Germans gave the top seeded team a 21-18 win in set 2.
Benes/Kubala vs. Fijalek/Prudel
This was a fun one, held on center court. The announcer led the crowd in "Pol-ska!" chants throughout, giving Fijalek and Prudel a definite home court advantage. After an even beginning, Team Polska jumped out to a 7-3 advantage with several different kinds of points on serve — a soft shot, a thunderous kill, a hitting error on the other side. Superior blocking got them to 11-4. The Czechs made a game of it, getting to 12-9 after a sneaky soft hit. The Poles took timeout and responded with a dominant run to 19-11, culminating with two service aces. Polska! A few sideouts later, and it's a 21-13 final.
It was mostly more of the same in set 2. A disputed line/out call on a Polish block drew the match even at 2, and after trading sideouts for a few points, the Poles took the first 2 point lead at 7-5. The Czechs drew to within a point a few times but never drew even, with a ball handling error on the Czech side giving the home team a 21-15 win. This was a pretty quick match, lasting just 31 minutes.
Dubovcova/Nestarcova vs. Talita/Maria
This was the first crossover match, for the knockout stage in the women's draw. Talita and Maria are a team that never should been relegated to playing in the first round of the knockout stage, and they played angry, like they believed it too. A fine run on serve put them up 6-3, and then another to 9-4 which only ended on a service error. Brazil pulled away further to 15-6, showing undeniable strength. From 17-7, it was mostly sideout after sideout to give them a 21-13 win set 1.
Set 2 started off more evenly, but was even less competitive as it went on. A big block from Talita led to a 7-4 Brazilian advantage, and that was as close as the Slovaks came. A run to 14-7 and then 17-8 effectively put the match away, and the Brazilian duo finished it off on serve at 21-11. An impressive, short match, over in just 27 minutes. It gives Talita and Maria a date with their countrywomen Agatha and Seixas, winners of their pool, in the next round (to be held tomorrow).
The match was over so fast that the Polish team of Kolosninska and Brzostek came out for warmups before their match with Kolocova and Slukova nearly 20 minutes before their opponents.
Full Day Two results
Women (pool winners get first-round bye, fourth-place teams do not advance to knockout stage)
Pool A
#1 Kessy/Ross (USA) d. #16 Maria Clara/Lili (BRA) (21-14, 17-21, 15-10)
#17 Dubovcova/Nestarcova (SVK) d. #32 Pregowska/Bekier (POL) (21-11, 21-9)
Final pool standings:
1. Kessy/Ross 3-0
2. Dubovcova/Nestarcova 2-1
3. Maria Clara/Lili 1-2
4. Pregowska/Bekier 0-3
Pool B
#2 Cicolari/Menegatti (ITA) d. #15 Tsiartsiani/Arvaniti (GRE) (21-18, 21-14)
#31 Banck/Walkenhorst (GER) d. #18 Mouha/Gielen (BEL) (25-23, 21-18)
Final pool standings:
1. Banck/Walkenhorst 2-1
2. Cicolari/Menegatti 2-1
3. Mouha/Gielen 1-2
4. Tsiartsiani/Arvaniti 1-2
Pool C
#3 Larissa/Juliana (BRA) d. #14 Klapalova/Hajeckova (CZE) (21-14, 21-18)
#19 Liliana/Baquerizo (ESP) d. #30 Stiekema/Braakman (NED) (21-13, 20-22, 16-14)
Final pool standings:
1. Larissa/Juliana 3-0
2. Liliana/Baquerizo 2-1
3. Klapalova/Hajeckova 1-2
4. Stiekema/Braakman 0-3 (but competitive in all three…remember these names)
Pool D
#13 Vozakova/Vasina (RUS) d. #4 Talita/Maria (BRA) (18-21, 21-19, 15-9)
#20 Borger/Büthe (GER) d. #29 Montagnolli/Kaiser (AUT) (21-12, 21-17)
Final pool standings:
1. Borger/Büthe 3-0
2. Vozakova/Vasina 2-1
3. Talita/Maria 1-2
4. Montagnolli/Kaiser 0-3
Pool E
#12 Walsh Jennings/Branagh (USA) d. #5 Meppelink/van Gestel (NED) (22-20, 21-17)
#28 Hansel/Jirak (AUT) d. #21 Fendrick/Hanson (USA) (21-19, 21-18)
Final pool standings:
1. Walsh Jennings/Branagh 3-0
2. Meppelink/van Gestel 1-2
3. Hansel/Jirak 1-2
4. Fendrick/Hanson 1-2
Pool F
#6 Holtwick/Semmler (GER) d. #11 Bawden/Hinchley (AUS) (21-12, 21-17)
#27 Akers/Hochevar (USA) d. #22 Forrer/Vergé-Dépré (SUI) (21-17, 21-17)
Final pool standings:
1. Holtwick/Semmler 2-1
2. Akers/Hochevar 2-1
3. Bawden/Hinchley 1-2
4. Forrer-Vergé-Dépré 1-2
Pool G
#7 Kolocova/Slukova (CZE) d. #10 Woloszyn/Suwinska (POL) (21-14, 21-10)
#23 Agatha/Seixas (BRA) d. #26 Goricanec/Graessli (SUI) (19-21, 21-15, 15-10)
Final pool standings:
1. Agatha/Seixas 3-0
2. Kolocova/Slukova 2-1
3. Goriacanec/Graessli 1-2
4. Woloszyn/Suwinska 0-3
Pool H
#8 Kuhn/Zumkehr (SUI) d. #9 Kolosniska/Brzostek (POL) (21-17, 16-21, 15-12)
#21 Ukolova/Khomyakova d. #25 Bieneck/Großner (GER) (21-16, 22-20)
Final pool standings:
1. Kuhn/Zumekhr 3-0
2. Ukolova/Khomyakova 2-1
3. Kolosniska/Brzostek 1-2
4. Bieneck/Großner 0-3
Knockout stage round 1:
Liliana/Baquerizo d. Goriacanec/Graessli (22-20, 21-11)
Vozakova/Vasina d. Hansel/Jirak (21-19, 21-15)
Talita/Maria d. Dubovcova/Nestarcova (21-13, 21-11)
Mouha/Gielen d. Akers/Hochevar (21-18, 21-11)
Ukolova/Khomyacova d. Klapalova/Hajeckova (21-16, 22-20)
Kolocova/Slukova d. Kolosniska/Brzostek (21-23, 21-17, 15-9)
Cicolari/Menegatti d. Bawden/Hincley (21-14, 21-14)
Maria Clara/Lili d. Meppelink/van Gestel (20-22, 21-14, 15-7)
Round 2 matchups (tomorrow):
Kessy/Ross vs. Liliana/Baquerizo
Vozakova/Vasina vs. Holtwick/Semmler
Agatha/Seixas vs. Talita/Maria
Mouha/Gielen vs. Larissa/Juliana
Borger/Büthe vs. Ukolova/Khomyakova
Kolocvoa/Slukova vs. Walsh Jennings/Branagh
Kuhn/Zumekhr vs. Cicolari/Menegatti (best matchup of the round)
Maria Clara/Lili vs. Banck/Walkenhorst
Men
Pool J
#1 Alison/Emanuel (BRA) d. #32 Zharykhau/Kavalenka (BLR) (21-19, 19-21, 15-12)
#17 Walkenhorst/Matysik (GER) d. #16 Heuscher/Weingart (SUI) (21-12, 21-11)
Alison/Emanuel d. Walkenhorst/Matysik (21-16, 21-18)
Heuscher/Weingart d. Zharykhau/Kavalenka (21-19, 21-17)
Pool K
#2 Gibb/Rosenthal (USA) d. #31 Popov/Samoday (UKR) (17-21, 21-18, 15-9)
#15 Fuchs/Koreng (GER) d. #18 Ingrosso/Ingrosso (ITA) (21-19, 21-15)
Gibb/Rosenthal d. Ingrosso/Ingrosso (18-21, 21-14, 15-10)
Popov/Samoday d. Fuchs/Koreng (18-21, 21-13, 17-15)
Pool L
#19 Skarlund/Spinnangr (NOR) d. #30 Tomatis/Casadei (ITA) (21-15, 21-15)
#14 Thiago/Bruno (BRA) d. #3 Pedro/Marcio (BRA) (21-17, 21-17)
Thiago/Bruno d. Tomatis/Casadei (19-21, 21-18, 15-7)
Skarlund/Spinnangr d. Pedro/Marcio via forfeit
Pool M
#4 Rogers/Dalhausser (USA) d. #29 Gerson/Gabathuler (SUI) (21-16, 21-17)
#13 Sidorenko/Dyachenko (KAZ) d. #20 Barsouk/Bogatov (21-19, 25-23)
Rogers/Dalhausser d. Barsouk/Bogatov (21-18, 16-21, 15-13)
Sidorenko/Dyachenko d. Gerson/Gabathuler (21-17, 21-18)
Pool N
#21 Losiak/Kantor (POL) d. #28 Müllner/Wutzl (AUT) (21-19, 21-17)
#12 Pļaviņš/Šmēdiņš (LAT) d. #5 Samoilovs/Sorokins (LAT) (21-18, 21-15)
Müllner/Wutzl d. Pļaviņš/Šmēdiņš (21-15, 11-21, 15-13)
Losiak/Kantor d. Samoilovs/Sorokins (23-21, 21-16)
Pool O
#6 Fuerbringer/Lucena (USA) d. #27 Brinkborg/Gunnarsson (SWE) (21-19, 21-16)
#11 Ricardo/Vitor (BRA) d. #22 Semenov/Prokopiev (RUS) (21-19, 16-21, 15-12)
Fuerbringer/Lucena d. Semenov/Prokopiev (21-14, 21-15)
Ricardo/Vitor d. Brinkborg/Gunnarsson (20-22, 21-17, 15-12)
Pool P
#26 Mesa/Lario (ESP) d. #7 Dollinger/Windscheif (GER) (17-21, 21-19, 17-15)
#10 Kadziola/Szalankiewicz (POL) d. #23 Horrem/Eithun (NOR) (21-18, 21-13)
Horrem/Eithun d. Dollinger/Windscheif (21-18, 18-21, 15-13)
Kadziola/Szalankiewicz d. Mesa/Lario (21-18, 21-14)
Pool Q
#24 Huber/Seidl (AUT) d. #28 Doppler/Horst (AUT) (21-12, 21-19)
#9 Fijalek/Prudel d. #8 Kubala/Benes (21-13, 21-15)
Fijalek/Prudel d. Doppler/Horst (22-20, 21-15)
Hubler/Seidl d. Kubala/Benes (21-17, 21-16)
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