BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Phoebe Bell and Brittany Kendall have wrapped their Youth Olympic Games Beach Volleyball campaign with a tough loss to Austria.
The Aussies were not without determination, but a strong performance by Gesslbauer/Radl was enough to knock the Aussies out in the elimination round 21-13 21-13.
“Our effort was there but our skill and our execution wasn’t,” Kendall said.
“Today they outplayed us. The Austrians had a good service game which put us on the back foot,” Bell added.
Big serving Radl played havoc with the Aussies, but great blocking from Kendall and attacks from both Aussies kept them neck-and-neck to start the first set.
When the Austrians began to create space off clever serves, they chipped away to take a five-point lead. The rally of the match came at 13-8, with Bell slamming an amazing attack to win the point and keep the damp but vocal Australian crowd excited. Despite playing some great Beach Volleyball in patches, the Australians lost the opening set 21-13.
With a spot in the Round of 16 at play, there was a tense start to the second set as both teams stalked their prey. The Australian block was strong, but so was the Austrian accuracy and they took a 9-5 lead early. Austria brought a good passing game but at 12-9 the Aussies were still in it and yet to find their best. Unfortunately, Radl had all the answers and gave the Aussies no time to step it up a gear, pinching the second set 21-13.
“It was pretty disappointing… But you can always take some positives out of it,” Bell said.
“I think as a team we do have some experience, but we have met teams that are more consistent
“I think we should just get home, keep improving, work hard at training and hopefully come back in our next competition and be better.
“I think this has given us a taste of what a real Olympics would be like so getting there would be pretty sweet.”
The Australians won two of their pool matches, losing their final pool match in a close encounter with Puerto Rico. They had a big game on centre court against Argentina, and leave the Youth Olympic Games better for the experience.
“The experience all over has been awesome,” Kendall said of the Youth Olympic Games.
“I’ve learnt the level of competition that I have to be at and that I have to work towards at home.
“It’s given us more motivation to keep working hard- you know where you have to be now, or I have a better idea of where I need to be.”
With admiration for the exceptional ball control many of their opponents put on show, the Aussies, who undoubtedly developed their skills throughout the tournament, have Tokyo 2020 in their sights.
Taya Conomos
olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam