BEACH VOLLEYBALL: Phoebe Bell and Brittany Kendall have come agonisingly close to defeating Puerto Rico in their last Beach Volleyball round-robin match leading into the finals series.
In their strongest game of the tournament, the Aussies took the first set against Bernier-Cajigas 21-19 but were narrowly beaten to the finish 21-14, 15-11. The result means they finish fourth in their pool and progress to the single-elimination round beginning on Sunday.
“It was a bit up and down,” Kendall said at the end of the thriller.
“We had it, but let it go a little bit due to some silly decisions as a team. Teamwork was there at times but then it dropped off.”
“I think in the first set especially we stuck more to our game plan,” Bell added.
“We stuck to one girl and kept working at her and she was cracking.”
The teams went point for point to start the first set thanks to great digs and sets from Bell and beautiful attacks from Kendall. The Aussies brought their creative best to the opening set, making every touch count.
But this was a brazen Puerto Rican outfit across the net, and a few quick points and a lucky net ball had the South Americans up 17-14 and within reach of the first set. The Aussies fought back to be down one point at 18-17 before a brave attack from Bell gave them match point at 20-18. A great set by Kendall gave Bell the chance to spike it home for 21-19.
“Definitely for me I really tried to stick to my game plan,” Kendall said. “It’s probably the best that I’ve done in what I have to do in my role.”
In the second set, Puerto Rico raced out to a 4-1 lead. Solid defence-turned-attack kept Bernier-Cajigas ahead as a few errors slipped into the Australians’ play. Three costly service errors helped dish up Puerto Rico the second set 21-14.
The Aussie girls opened the shortened third set (first to 15) with nice passing, but the solid Puerto Ricans were not giving out points for free. Down 11-8, the Aussies knew the game was not over yet. They narrowed the margin to one point, but some tactical lapses let Bernier-Cajigas flex their muscles and they sealed the final set 15-11.
The Youth Olympic Games pool matches are now over and the Australians finished fourth in their pool with two wins. A draw will be held tomorrow to determine who the Aussies face in the single elimination round. All teams who finished first in their pool receive a bye, so for Kendall, it does not matter who the pair draw in the round of 24: “we’re going to win,” she declared.
“I think skill-wise this was our best game,” Bell said. “Hopefully we can bring that to the next game.”
Tomorrow is a well-earned rest day for the Beach Volleyball players at the Youth Olympics, many of whom have been training and competing for eight days straight. There are plenty of other Australians to cheer for on Day 7, see the full schedule here >>>
Taya Conomos
olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam
