Rivo Vesik was sitting past the top line throughout April’s Guadalajara Problem, within the nervewracking place acquainted to all worldwide seaside volleyball coaches: full and complete helplessness.
As soon as the match begins — on this case, that match was his Swiss pair of Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli vs. Canada’s Sophie Bukovec and Heather Bansley — you are able to do nothing however watch.
For years, his group had established itself as one of many world’s finest. Brunner an elite defender, Huberli an outstanding blocker. Two-time European Champs.
But the wins eluded them. Proficient and profitable as they have been, they hadn’t received a single gold on the Seashore Professional Tour.
What, he was requested, have been they lacking? On paper, they’d each ingredient: spectacular defender, bodily blocker who can hit angles solely choose few on the earth may, two aggressive serves that might get scorching on a second’s discover.
He laughed and shrugged.
Confidence, he mentioned. That American sort of confidence.
4 months later, it could appear they’ve discovered it.
Since that match in Guadalajara, Brunner and Huberli have received their first match on the Seashore Professional Tour — the Tepic Elite16 in Could — took silver just a few weeks later in Espinho, Portugal, and are enjoying arguably one of the best seaside volleyball of anybody within the Olympic Video games.
The latter half of that assertion, on Tuesday night in Paris, got here on the expense of Individuals Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, as Switzerland received, 21-18, 21-19 in a superb quarterfinal.
Like Brunner and Huberli, Cheng and Hughes entered Tuesday’s quarterfinal undefeated, having dropped only a single set. Brunner and Huberli hadn’t even achieved that, successful all eight units they’d performed, many by margins that will be known as unsportsmanlike on the youth degree.
The query, then, was this: With every little thing — protection, offense, serving, every little thing — going within the correct path for the Swiss, did they’ve the arrogance and psychological make-up to upset the World Champs and make their first Olympic semifinals?
They left little doubt.
Solely as soon as did Switzerland waver of their sweep over Cheng and Hughes. Up 11-10 within the second arrange the technical timeout, Brunner and Huberli allowed a 4-1 USA run and have been now staring down a 12-14 deficit, their greatest of the match. Brunner, who at that time was siding out at 82 p.c for the match, highest within the area, was scuffling with Hughes’ brief float serves. Between the out of system passing and occasional ace (Hughes would end with three), Brunner, for maybe the primary time all match, was barely imperfect.
It didn’t final lengthy.
A timeout. A restoration. A response as clean and calm as a summer time sea.
They retook the lead, 18-17, and leaned on their protection, the stoutest of any group in Paris, to shut the match. A Brunner dig at 20-19 was lofted completely to Huberli, who poked it down for the win, a crushing blow to the USA, who boasted the groups seeded 2 (Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth) and three (Cheng and Hughes) and can come away with a ninth and a fifth, respectively.
It is very important word that there’s a distinction between one group enjoying wonderful and successful a match, and one other group giving it away. Cheng and Hughes didn’t give this match away to Brunner and Huberli.
Switzerland took it.
They took it with digs (Brunner’s 6 to Hughes’ 5), blocks (Huberli’s 2 to Cheng’s 1), aces (Switzerland’s 7 to USA’s 3) and a gradual offensive presence that restricted their greatest deficit of both set to simply two. Had been the Individuals excellent? No. Tuesday was not the height of their talents, whereas it was peak Switzerland. In a sport determined by fractions — fingernails, typically — that is sufficient to be the distinction in an Olympic quarterfinal.
Now Brunner and Huberli are in uncharted territory: the Olympic semifinals, the place they are going to play the winner of Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson vs. Spain’s Daniela Alvarez and Tania Moreno.
They’re the ultimate Swiss group remaining, with Cinderellas Zoe Verge-Depre and Esmee Bobner falling brief in opposition to Australia’s Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho, who are actually in place to win a second consecutive Olympic medal following their silver in Tokyo. They’ll play the winner of Brazil’s Ana Patricia Silva and Duda Lisboa and Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova.
Sweden resumes world-class type, pushes into Paris Olympics semifinals
No matter it was that ailed Sweden’s David Ahman and Jonatan Hellvig throughout pool play of the Paris Olympic Video games appears to have been exorcised from their system. Following two pool play losses — matching their complete for your entire season — Ahman and Hellvig have rebounded with spectacular victories over two beforehand undefeated groups in Cuba’s Jorge Alayo and Noslen Diaz (21-11, 26-28, 15-11), and Brazil’s Evandro Goncalves and Arthur Mariano (21-17, 21-16).
They now await the winner of USA’s Miles Partain and Andy Benesh vs. Qatar’s Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan.
Germany makes yet one more semifinal after win over Netherlands
Gemany’s Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler are the kings of the semifinal in 2024. In eight tournaments this season, they’ve now made the semifinals in six of them, following their 22-20, 21-15 win over Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot of the Netherlands.
They’ll play the winner of Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum and Spain’s Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera.
