that big and they have been very success- ful.”
Smith points out that even now “with
the right partner two ‘small guys’ can win. Just look at Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs (6-5) and Janis Smedins (6-3).”
Creative offenses In the second round of the 2002
Manhattan Beach Open Mike Lambert and Lee LeGrande were playing Matt Fuerbringer and Brandon Taliaferro in what should not have been anything more than your typical late summer AVP match. However, what was striking and unusual about this game in particular were the number of perfectly legal back hand sets employed by Lambert and LeGrande. The back hand set was not a tool used much by players in the pre-2001 era because it was unnecessary, as the blocker had so much more territory to cover. However, with the “short court” more sophisticated offenses were required to get around a block that now covered more of the playing area. In fact, a number of tactics have been used since the turn of the
the most dominant team in the history of the sport. “With the new court dimensions the range of the small player’s shots were minimized,” McPeak said. “Our strategy came about naturally. I had good control with both my passing in serve receive and on digs and EY could take advantage. It took the offensive pressure off me and we would catch a lot of teams out of position.”
Another tool that has been
Elaine Youngs and Holly McPeak often answered questions from Heather Cox after victories regarding their revolutionary quick offense.
used by a variety of teams to keep the blockers moving and guessing is the quick, low out-
side set. If the opposing blocker can both move both feet and anticipate where the set is going, it can be lights out. But more often than not this ploy can help offenses manipulate around the walls set up by the big men and women. At times in the 2004-2005 AVP season Lambert and Karch Kiraly
century, to great effect, to combat the bigger and more expansive block- ers. One of the most successful was the “over on two” employed by McPeak and Elaine Youngs at the peak of their powers from 2002-2004. Most often this tactic was utilized against Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings, who became the prototype of the tall, coordinated, “quick footed” blocker. Sometimes the only way around her was through deception and McPeak and Youngs’ strategy was quite successful against
broke out the “I Formation” as another method to keep opponents guessing so that the 43 and 44-year-old Kiraly would not necessarily get the bulk of the serves. While there are still some that would like to see the clock turn back
to the “old days” pre-2001, there is no denying that beach volleyball’s growth around the world has risen exponentially since the turn of the century and the game itself is probably a lot more interesting than in its previous iteration.
Holly McPeak, a bronze medalist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, has been a vital part of the women’s game as a Hall of Fame player and a trainer for some of the top young players.
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