Rivo Vesik was sitting past the tip line throughout April’s Guadalajara Problem, within the nervewracking place acquainted to all worldwide seaside volleyball coaches: full and whole 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 greatest. Brunner an elite defender, Huberli an outstanding blocker. Two-time European Champs.
But the wins eluded them. Proficient and profitable as they had been, they hadn’t gained a single gold on the Seaside Professional Tour.
What, he was requested, had been they lacking? On paper, that they had each ingredient: spectacular defender, bodily blocker who can hit angles solely choose few on the earth might, two aggressive serves that would get scorching on a second’s discover.
He laughed and shrugged.
Confidence, he stated. That American kind of confidence.
4 months later, it will appear they’ve discovered it.
Since that event in Guadalajara, Brunner and Huberli have gained their first event on the Seaside Professional Tour — the Tepic Elite16 in Might — took silver a couple of weeks later in Espinho, Portugal, and are taking part in arguably the perfect 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 People Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, as Switzerland gained, 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 performed that, successful all eight units they’d performed, many by margins that may be known as unsportsmanlike on the youth degree.
The query, then, was this: With every part — protection, offense, serving, every part — going within the correct route for the Swiss, did they’ve the boldness 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 had been now staring down a 12-14 deficit, their largest of the match. Brunner, who at that time was siding out at 82 p.c for the event, highest within the discipline, was battling Hughes’ quick float serves. Between the out of system passing and occasional ace (Hughes would end with three), Brunner, for maybe the primary time all event, 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.
You will need to observe that there’s a distinction between one group taking part in glorious 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 gentle offensive presence that restricted their largest deficit of both set to simply two. Had been the People excellent? No. Tuesday was not the height of their skills, whereas it was peak Switzerland. In a sport determined by fractions — fingernails, generally — 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 quick towards Australia’s Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho, who at the moment are in place to win a second consecutive Olympic medal following their silver in Tokyo. They may 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 whole for your complete 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 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 may play the winner of Norway’s Anders Mol and Christian Sorum and Spain’s Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera.