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The San Diego Smash embraced a “nothing-to-lose mentality” in enjoying their manner into the AVP League playoff image, going 3-1 and coming inside an eyelash of profitable all 4.
The Austin Aces almost painted themselves right into a nook throughout a Week 7 practice wreck that dropped them to .500.
And the New York Nitro cut up their 4 matches on the spacious Honda Middle in Anaheim, California, however that was adequate to nail down the highest seed within the League playoffs.
“We (wished) to get first place and it’s a pleasant examine,” the Nitro’s Taylor Sander mentioned.
All in all, the penultimate weekend of the League’s common season was full of peculiar outcomes, not the least of which was that the Aces’ high-powered ladies’s pair of USA Olympians Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss went 0-for-2, dropping each matches in sweeps and never scoring greater than 12 factors in any set.
The Smash jumped to 5-7 within the standings, with USA Olympians Chase Budinger and Miles Evans (3-3) taking down the Aces’ Billy Allen and Paul Lotman in three units on Saturday evening and sweeping Phil Dalhausser and Avery Drost of the Palm Seashore Ardour on Sunday afternoon. The Smash’s Geena Urango and Toni Rodriguez (2-4) pulled off one of many largest upsets within the League collection after they served Kloth and Nuss off the courtroom in a 15-10, 15-12 victory.
The 6-foot-1 Rodriguez sizzled within the first set with 4 aces, together with a feathery hybrid float serve that dropped untouched on set level. Urango saved the strain on from behind the road within the second, dialing up 4 extra aces. Geena’s “left-to-left” sharp-angled topspin jumper gave TKN (as they’re known as) suits and Urango tallied the match-winner on a slicing serve that landed inches from the sideline. The Smash duo complemented their serving by combining to hit .500 (17-for-30 towards two errors) within the match.
“The previous few weeks we’ve been coaching to be extra aggressive from the service line as a result of with out wind and the weather, it is advisable to execute somewhat extra effectively together with your serve,” Urango defined.
Added Rodriguez: “The place we’re sitting (coming into the weekend 2-6), we now have nothing to lose, so we wished to return out and be aggressive.”
Budinger was effusive in his reward of his teammates: “They sided out like champs and so they (had been) SO AGGRESSIVE serving towards probably the greatest groups on the earth.”
The veteran Urango expounded on the Smash’s relaxed outlook in a sideline interview throughout the match wherein Chase and Miles withstood Allen and Lotman 13-15, 16-14, 15-10.
“We had a month off, so we knew we’ve bought nothing to lose right here,” Geena mentioned. “We got here in with somewhat free, let’s have enjoyable, nothing to lose mentality and that helped us.”
Former NBA participant Budinger put an exclamation level on the second set by serving a flat floater to the sideline that Allen shanked. The Smash pair gained 7-4 separation within the tiebreaker with a rejection by Chase towards Lotman, a kill in transition by Budinger on an choice swat, Evans’ deep ace down the center and an impromptu block by Miles throughout a “scramble” level. The 6-foot-7 Budinger closed the present with a left-handed putdown on a second-ball assault. Chase’s gaudy stat line learn 14-for-22 with one error (.591), two aces and 5 blocks.
“Geena and Toni set the tone, so we determined to step up as effectively,” Evans mentioned.
“I bought in somewhat blocking rhythm in that third and that actually helped me,” Budinger added.
Chase and Miles saved the great instances rolling a day later, weathering a decent and prolonged opening set to bounce Dalhausser and Drost 21-19, 15-10. Budinger capped an other-worldly weekend by pounding 15 kills on 19 errorless assaults (.789), blocking 5 balls and making seven digs.
Urango and Rodriguez, nonetheless, ran right into a pair on a mission within the type of Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson of the Ardour. The Canadian superstars withstood a number of match factors within the tiebreaker to finish a outstanding comeback and prevail 15-10, 12-15, 16-14. Geena and Toni served no aces this time. Brandie hit .461 (15-for-26 with three errors) with 4 blocks and three digs, whereas Mel picked up 11 digs.
On Saturday evening, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson once more demonstrated their poise by holding off USA Olympians Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes of the Nitro 11-15, 15-13, 15-13. The reigning world champions bought out to a 6-3 lead within the tiebreaker, however that was erased on Mel’s high-line shot, Brandie’s straight-down “take-out-the-trash” kill on an overpass and a hitting error by Cheng that flew lengthy. The rely remained knotted via 12, and the Ardour pair went up 14-12 on Wilkerson’s deep middle-to-middle topspin jump-serve ace. Humana-Paredes sided-out on a blast down the road to finish a battle that has been known as an immediate basic.
Mel and Brandie went 5-3 in League play, however the Ardour total completed 6-10 and are out of the playoff hunt. Dalhausser and Drost had been 1-7, additionally dropping a lopsided 15-7, 15-8 affair to the Nitro’s Sander and Taylor Crabb that noticed each groups entertain the followers with skyballs. No state of affairs exists among the many remaining video games that would have the 10-loss Ardour crack the highest 4 spots.
In the meantime, the Aces went additional within the gap throughout their sport towards the Nitro on Sunday. Kloth and Nuss (3-3) failed to fireside once more and had been dealt with pretty simply by rivals Cheng and Hughes (6-2) 15-10, 15-11. The Manhattan Seashore Open champions had no reply for Cheng, who swung at .824 (that’s not a typo) effectivity, getting 15 kills on 17 assaults towards a single error. Nuss, who has averaged 3.46 digs per set within the League, totaled an atypical three digs within the match.
The Aces’ solely salvation got here when Allen and Lotman (3-3), seemingly useless within the water after the primary set, upset the Taylors (6-2) 7-15, 15-13, 15-13. Toss out that opening set, wherein Billy and Paul hit .000 mixed, and the veterans compiled a .486 attacking share (21-for-37 with three errors). Their victory put the Aces at 6-6, nonetheless very a lot within the playoff race with a possible for 10 wins.
The Nitro (12-4 with 34 tiebreaker factors accrued) have clinched the No. 1 seed. If the Dallas Dream (8-4, 22 tiebreaker factors) win their remaining 4 matches in sweeps, in addition they could be 12-4 with 34 tiebreaker factors. Nevertheless, when the Nitro and Dream performed in Week 3, the groups cut up their matches, however the Nitro outscored the Dream 56-51, which is the third tiebreaking criterion.
The Miami Mayhem (10-6 with 29 tiebreaker factors) are locked into one of many 4 spots within the semifinals, at worst because the No. 3 seed. Probably the most tiebreaker factors the Aces might earn with 4 two-set victories is 28. No state of affairs exists wherein the Smash or the LA Launch (4-8) can complete 10 wins, so neither might leapfrog the Mayhem.
Nevertheless, advancing to the postseason with 9 wins, and even eight, stays doable, so the Smash and Launch can’t be counted out.
The Saturday evening crowd on the Honda Middle ringed many of the eight or so rows of the decrease bowl, with attendance on Sunday afternoon being extra sparse, as has been typical of League weekends. The primary 4 matches of Week 7 from Anaheim are archived on the AVP’s free YouTube channel. The 4 matches on Sunday aired solely on CBS Sports activities Community and will probably be posted to YouTube 10 days after the reside telecast, in accordance with the AVP’s media-rights settlement with CBS Sports activities.
The Aces and Smash will be part of the Launch and Dream on Week 8 as the ultimate collection cease of the common season strikes to Texas. Doubleheaders on the 4,000-seat Comerica Middle in Frisco (a Dallas/Fort Price suburb) are scheduled on Nov. 2 and three.
Listed here are the lineups for the final of eight regular-season AVP League weekends:
Saturday
LA Launch (4-8; Tim Bomgren and Troy Subject, 1-5; Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles, 3-3) vs. Austin Aces (6-6; Paul Lotman and Billy Allen, 3-3; Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss, 3-3).
San Diego Smash (5-7; Chase Budinger and Miles Evans, 3-3; Geena Urango and Toni Rodriguez, 2-4) vs. Dallas Dream (8-4; Miles Partain and Andy Benesh, 6-0; Hailey Harward and Kylie Deberg, 2-4).
Sunday
Launch vs. Smash (in a rematch from Week 1) and Aces vs. Dream (in a rematch from Week 2).
The outcomes from every match within the collection will go towards figuring out the 4 qualifiers for the bracket-style championship rounds on Nov. 9 and 10 on the Dignity Well being Sports activities Park in Carson, California. The primary criterion for advancing to the playoffs is staff profitable share. The second is tiebreaker factors, awarded on a scale of three for a two-set sweep, two for a three-set victory and one for a three-set defeat.
