Hostile was the expectation for the atmosphere of Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes’ second match of pool play at these Paris Olympic Video games. On Wednesday afternoon, Cheng and Hughes have been matched up with France’s Aline Chamereau and Clemence Vieira, the house wild playing cards who would have the 12,000-strong French followers roaring with each kill, each block, each dig, each level.
It wasn’t hostile sufficient, as Cheng and Hughes gained their second straight match with one other sweep, 21-16, 23-21.
Maybe because of the crowd, it was a a lot nearer match than many might have anticipated. Chamereau and Vieira definitely offered a stronger take a look at than the Czech Republic’s Bara Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova did on Sunday night, when Cheng and Hughes gained, 21-16, 21-11. By the technical timeout of the opening set, France led the Individuals, 11-10.
It’s the most recent the USA has trailed in a set within the Olympics.
It didn’t final lengthy.
Cheng and Hughes scored three straight out of the timeout and sustained the momentum for a 6-1 run. The world-class protection that has Hughes No. 2 in digs for the event — behind solely Kristen Nuss — offered a bunch of points for Chamereau and Vieira, for if it wasn’t Hughes within the backcourt, it was Cheng on the internet, piling up three blocks in all.
It was their protection, once more, within the second set that prevailed. A uneven offensive efficiency on the outset put the USA down on the technical timeout once more, this time 9-12. Simply as they did within the opening set, they roared out of the timeout, pushing out to a 5-2 run to tie it at 14-14 with an enormous Cheng block. A Hughes ace put the Individuals up 15-14 for his or her first lead since 6-5 — but France took it again at 17-16 after a Cheng shot went large. It wouldn’t final lengthy. Cheng properly pulled off the online at 18-18, choosing up a brief shot from Vieira and changing to place the USA again within the lead, 19-18.
This time, it was a lead they’d preserve, and a match they’d end with a Hughes dig and putaway and a Cheng block to cap it off, 23-21.
The win places Cheng and Hughes at 2-0, and they’re now tied for the highest spot in Pool C with Germany’s Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillmann, who’ve additionally swept each the Czech Republic and France. They’ll meet each other within the remaining spherical of pool play on August 2, though there can be little on the road. Each Cheng and Hughes and Muller and Tillmann have clinched a berth into the spherical of 16.
Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, too, have clinched a berth into the spherical of 16. Like Cheng and Hughes, they’re additionally 2-0 with out dropping a set and can conclude pool play on August 1 towards China’s Chen Xue and Xinyi Xia.
Zoe Verge-Depre, Esmee Bobner land second straight upset
They grew to become some of the standard groups all through the Olympic qualification course of, and now Zoe Verge-Depre and Esmee Bobner, Switzerland’s No. 2 duo within the Paris Olympic Video games, is likely one of the hottest groups within the Video games. After opening the Olympics with an upset sweep over Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova (21-15, 21-14), Verge-Depre and Bobner have landed one other, this one over Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson (21-18, 13-21, 15-11).
The upsets have made fairly a multitude of Pool D, because the three seed (Verge-Depre and Bobner) are actually virtually assured to take the highest spot, with solely Paraguay remaining. This makes for Humana-Paredes’ and Wilkerson’s match towards Graudina and Samoilova a head-on-head for the second and third spots in pool.
Wednesday’s Olympic Seaside Volleyball outcomes
Ondrej Perusic, David Schweiner (Czech Republic) def. Julian Horl, Alex Horst (Austria) 21-18, 21-13
Tanja Huberli, Nina Brunner (Switzerland) def. Laura Ludwig, Louisa Lippmann (Germany) 21-9, 21-15
Svenja Muller, Cinja Tillmann (Germany) def. Bara Hermannova, Marie-Sara Stochlova (Czech Republic) 21-17, 21-9
Tina Graudina, Anastasija Samoilova (Latvia) def. Poletti, Michelle (Paraguay) 21-19, 21-15
Kelly Cheng, Sara Hughes (USA) def. Clemence Vieira, Aline Chamereau (France) 21-16, 23-21
Steven van de Velde, Matthew Immers (Netherlands) def. Marco Grimalt, Esteban Grimalt (Chile) 21-19, 21-16
Daniela Alvarez, Tania Moreno (Spain) def. Lezana Placette, Alexia Richard (France) 21-12, 21-15
Evandro Goncalves, Arthur Mariano (Brazil) def. Sam Schachter, Dan Dearing (Canada) 21-13, 21-16
Zoe Verge-Depre, Esmee Bobner (Switzerland) def. Melissa Humana-Paredes, Brandie Wilkerson (Canada) 21-18, 13-21, 15-11
Anders Mol, Christian Sorum (Norway) def. Alex Ranghieri, Adrian Carambula (Italy) 21-12, 21-15