BEACH VOLLEYBALL: A resurgent Argentine performance coupled with the Australians being a little too laid back has cost Phoebe Bell and Brittany Kendall the win.
The Aussie teenagers lost their second pool match of the Youth Olympic Games Beach Volleyball tournament to Verasio-Hiruela (ARG) 23-21, 17-21, 15-10.
Bell-Kendall, who made light work of their Rwandan opponents in their first round-robin match last night, took too long to find their rhythm in a centre court pumping with tunes.
“I think we started off very slow in every set; but full credit to Argentina- they came out fast,” Bell said.
“When we played them at World Champs they weren’t as good; but we saw them play Russia yesterday and they really came to play and we knew that going out there,” partner Kendall explained.
The rally of the first set came at 11-10 with dives and spikes aplenty, and it went the way of Argentina. This started a landslide of points and before they knew it, Bell-Kendall were staring down the barrel of losing the first set.
The Aussies pegged back a 19-16 deficit to draw level at 19-all. Bell-Kendall saved two set points and looked to have saved a third when Kendall made a spectacular dive, but the Aussies were ruled to have hit the net on the spike and Argentina took the set 23-21.
As Bell explained: “We’re not fast enough to re-focus into the next set.”
The Aussies trailed for most of the second set until taking the lead at 15-14. Bell nailed a spike, Kendall landed a giant block, Bell served an ace and all of a sudden the girls were up 18-14. An awesome spike from Kendall made it 20-15 with plenty of match points in their back pockets. Kendall hit the winner to take the set 21-17.
Argentina then went on a menacing run to open the third set with the net helping them to four straight points. The Aussies made them fight with some desperate dives and better transition phases from Bell and strength from Kendall; but the victory would go to the more powerful and aggressive Argentines.
“We need to be very switched on from the get-go,” Kendall said.
“And focused the whole way,” Bell added.
“Every set was slow and especially the third set when it just goes to 15, you can’t start off slowly,” she said.
The Australians return to centre court tomorrow night to face Russia.
“We’re expecting a solid game from Russia- they’re very tidy- but it’s winnable,” Kendall said.
Australia will play five games in the pool phase before the single-elimination phase begins. A top-two position in their pool is advantageous.
Taya Conomos
olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam
