BEACH VOLLEYBALL
LONDON OLYMPICS
A SPECTACULAR SILVER: April Ross (above) and Jen Kessy (right) were on their game in London with great defense, solid offense and their own customized handshake. (Photos: Kyle Terada/USA TODAY)
2012 OLYMPICS REVIEW —
WOMEN’S BEACH VOLLEYBALL • Medal Winners — Gold: Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh (USA), Silver: Jen Kessy-April Ross (USA), Bronze: Juliana Felisberta-Larissa Franca (Brazil) • Rest of the Field — 4th: Chen Xue-Xi Zhang (China), 5th: Greta Cicolari-Marta Menegatti (Italy), 5th: Sara Goller-Laura Ludwig (Ger- many), 5th: Kristyna Kolocova-Marketa Slukova (Czech Republic), 5th: Doris Schwaiger-Stefanie Schwaiger (Austria), 9th: Maria Antonelli-Tal- ita Rocha (Brazil), 9th: Sanne Keizer-Marleen Van Iersel (Netherlands), 9th: Simone Kuhn-Nadine Zumkehr (Switzerland), 9th: Katrin Holt- wick-Ilka Semmler (Germany), 9th: Elsa Baquerizo-Liliana Fernandez (Spain), 9th: Ekaterina Khomyakova-Evgeniya Ukolova (Russia), 9th: Madelein Meppelink-Sophie van Gestel (Netherlands), 9th: Anastasia Vasina-Anna Vozakova (Russia), 17th: Kara Dampney-Shauna Mullin (Great Britain), 17th: Lenka Hajeckova-Hana Klapalova (Czech Re- public), 19th: Vasiliki Arvaniti-Maria Tsiartsiani (Greece), 19th: Louise Bawden-Becchara Palmer (Australia), 19th: Marie-Andree Lessard/An- nie Martin (Canada), 19th: Ana Gallay-Virginia Zonta (Argentina), 19th Natalie Cook-Tamsin Hinchley (Australia), 19th: Elodie Li Yuk Lo-Nata- cha Rigobert (Mauritius) • Summing up the U.S. Performance — One word: Wow! May-
Treanor and Walsh won their third Olympics in a row, even though they’d only won one other tournament all season in seven starts and had also taken two ninths – unheard of for May-Treanor and Walsh. But they showed once again why they are the greatest beach vol- leyball team ever to play the game, winning seven matches in a row to lift their match record from three Olympics to 21-0. That earned them gold medal No. 3, which came after a 21-16, 21-16 championship match victory over their American compatriots, Jen Kessy and April Ross. And Kessy-Ross were the other half of “Wow.” They had an
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even rougher FIVB season than May-Treanor and Walsh, having taken a third, six fi fths and a ninth entering the London Games. But they pulled off what was probably the upset of the entire beach Olympics, coming back from one set down and four points down in the second set to knock off the No. 1 seeds: Brazil’s Juliana Felisberta-Larissa Franca. Before that match, the Brazilians had beaten Kessy-Ross nine times in a row. • What Walsh said — “I was just so overwhelmed (after winning). It was the most proud I’ve ever been. I was so relieved it was over, and I was so proud of not only Misty and I but of my family and I for doing it. Above all, I felt overwhelming love and gratitude for everyone who helped us do what we needed to do.” • What May-Treanor said — “I still feel like somebody pinch me that this just happened. We’ve been walking around the stadium say- ing it feels like an out-of-body experience.” • What Kessy said — “If you looked at our year this year, we
hadn’t been doing the best, and I think people would have won a lot of money if they would have bet on us. I don’t think anyone was bet- ting on us.” • What Ross said — “Of course, we wanted the gold. But I think the disappointment stuck with Jen a little longer than it stuck with me. I just was so excited to be on the podium. I can’t say I expected us to do that well, so it was amazing for me.” • Expert analysis by Holly McPeak (Olympic bronze medalist in 2004) — “In the gold-medal match, Misty was in the zone defensively, and Kerri was blocking really well, too. And Misty was siding out well at that point, too. That was something that she wasn’t doing as well early on in the tournament. In my mind, Jen and April overachieved. You can’t say enough about them coming up with such a big match against one of the best teams in the world (Juliana and Larissa) with everything on the line. I know how hard it is to have your best match at the Olympics, so I think I appreciate what they did that much more.”
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