Phil and I finally got back to the winners circle in Long Beach. Was our 5th AVP tourney without a win and 8th one including FIVB events. 6th win of the season and all on the AVP Tour. Hopefully we can get a couple on the FIVB Tour these next two weeekends.
Long Beach was a 32 team event so Phil and I had to play in the first round. We were seeded second behind Jake and Rosy. A lot of people have asked me how we are not the first seed. The seeding is based on on your best 4 of your last 5 tourneys. Jake and Rosy had a 1st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th so dropped the 5th for a 1.75 seed. We had a 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 2nd so dropped a 3rd and had a 2.00 seed. Coming up in Manhattan I think that Phil and I will be the third seed behind Jake and Rosy and Stein and Lambo.
In the first round we played Kyle Denitz and Casey Patteson. They are a qualifier team from Santa Barbara and a very good beach volleyball team. We beat them 16 and 18 I think. They were actually ahead almost the entire second game until Phil and I made a run at the end of the game to catch and pass them for the win. They played very well though and I hope they break through into the main draw over the rest of this season.
In the second round we played Matt Prosser and John Mayer. The first game was a good game as we won 21-18. The second we pounded them 21-14 or so and even Prosser's cheering section, Prosser's Pirates, were heckling them more than us.
Saturday morning we played Dax and Sean and played well. I think the scores were 12 and 14 or so. I expected a bit more of a battle from those guys but Sean was struggling a bit and not his usual crisp self.
We played Stein and Mike in the winners semis and had a battle at a high level. The scores were 21-19 and 19. Sided out for game one and had to score a real one to win game two. High level match from what everyone told me.
In the crossover semis we played Brad and John. They pretty much served us off the court in the first game winning 21-18. Brad was smoking his jump serve and John was spotting it really well and causing us all kinds of trouble. In the second game the jump serves were not quite as potent and we pulled our game up a bit. We won 21-16. In the third we came out strong and never looked back. Phil was blocking really well and they were struggling a bit. I think the score was 15-9 or so.
In the finals we played Jake and Rosy. Was a good fun matchup on NBC. We won the first 21-18 or so, they won the second 21-19 and we won the third 15-9. Lot of good rallies with a bunch of blocks and tough serves by Jake and Rosy. They had 4 aces in the second game with three in a row by Rosy down Phils line. Tough to come back from that. We did well in the third game and had a lot of energy which is something we have been lacking of late. Nice to be back in 1st.
Stein and Mike ended up third after losing to us and Jake and Rosy in the crossover semis.
John and Brad were 3rd again and are now the solid 4 seed. I am sure they are looking for a break through in the crossover semis and they should be favored to make it to the finals in Chicago.
Mark and Nick had a good tourney. They lost in the second round to Dax and Sean but made it all the way back to take 5th to Stein and Mike. Were all tied up at 13 all in the third against those guys but a sideout and error put Mike and Stein in the semis.
Ring and Nygaard were the surprise team of the tourney. Took a 5th overall and I would be willing to be that most guys didn't think this team would do very well. They did though so congrats to them.
Other notables were Dax and Sean taking a 9th. I would bet that they won't be there very long. Casey and Matt beat Dax and Sean on Saturday but then were taken down by Ring and Jeff to take a 7th. You can bet they are not happy with that finish. Fred and Anthony took a 7th. KWong and Witt took a 9th.
Next blog from Gstaad Switzerland.
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9 comments:
good luck in Switzerland Todd. I enjoyed the Long Beach Finals on NBC. Was Long Beachs favorite son Snoop Dogg at any of the matches? Marlowe, Dodd and Karch did a fine job on the broadcast although I dont know if you guys like the mic in your face during the games. Hopefully the ratings were good and the AVP is building momentum in the USA. Too bad the FIVB matches dont get coverage here on ESPN or FSN. I would think they would do better than the Womans Softball and Strongest Man Competitions they show. Scott from Cape Cod
Congratulations on your win at Long Beach!! I thought you and Phil played really well. The only times you got in trouble were when Phil set you a little too tight a few times and when Jake was just a monster blocking. My only complaint about the coverage on NBC was that it wasn't live even though they advertised it as such. So we didn't get to see the 3 or 4 straight aces in the second game. But I guess NBC wants the AVP to fit in a 90 min slot. Sad that if a baseball game goes extra innnings, they will show it until the end but if volleyball goes o/t...also must be distracting to you to be interviewed by Heather Cox on replays in the middle of a match, maybe they should do that in the winners' interview. Maybe I'm being too critical...at least NBC is showing the AVP.
Good luck and continued great playing in Switzerland.
Todd,
Did you like the Long Beach set-up?
I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the top four courts. The sand felt decent considering how hard it was underneath.
That final was truly a treat. I would have been happy with either of the teams winning. The blocking on both sides was great as was the serving. I think it was the best match of the year.
Good luck in Europe!
Steve from Huntington Beach
Congrats on the LB win. It was great to see NBC's coverage in HD.
I was wondering about conditioning for Gstaad and if the elevation will effect you guys at all. Good luck in Switzerland!
David, Oklahoma
Wow you are seriously globetrotting! How many hours from touchdown (presumably Geneva) plus drive to Gstaad, before your first match.
I always liked the high altitude. Always felt quicker and jumpead higher at the Motherlode in Aspen or tourneys in Boulder.
Good luck this week and weekend.
Jeff
Scott- Didn't notice Snoop Dogg and he would be hard to miss. Mic in the face is not optimal but part of the job description. Hear you on the other sports.
Garret- Beach volley isn't quite at the level of MLB yet. They don't do much live anymore on TV especially after the whole Janet Jackson thing. Everything is slightly delayed. LB was 30 minutes delayed. It also works if the match runs really long. Ours was a little long although the amount of stoppage time is getting ridiculous. The only nice thing about it is that after a long rally you have plenty of time to recuperate since they show the whole rally in slow motion.
Steve- I really liked the LB setup. I was dreading going down there but they have really cleaned that area up since the last time I was there in 1990. I thought the game was one of the better finals. Although Seaside Heights vs. Stein/Mike was probably a little better. 15-13 in the third in that one. Although I liked the outcome of LB a lot better. :)
David- Never noticed the altitude much here in Gstaad. Particularly when you are only playing one match a day. The time thing is tougher than anything else.
Jeff- Actually flew into Zurich which is about an hour longer drive than Geneva. Only direct from LAX. We got in at 7:30pm on Monday and played at 7pm on Tuesday. We were lucky as we could have had a 9am match on Tuesday and that would have been brutal. Still tough but a bit easier.
Todd
Hey Todd,
Thanks for the early round interview!
We really enjoyed the match between you and Patterson/Denitz in the morning. We were really just getting our equipment set up and we started hearing the match intensify behind us.
You guys really picked it up in that second game, for a newer team those kids are intense on the court.
Our theory is they really made you guys get up and play and that pushed you into playing harder in the later rounds.
Had they been a laydown win, maybe you guys aren't as pumped up going into the next match...Hmmm who knows?
Anyway, great job to both you and Phil and congratulations on the win. Have there ever been that many blocks in a finals match? That was pretty amazing to watch!
Good luck on your whirlwind tour. We will be at the San Francisco tournament for sure, and possibly Manhattan. We look forward to seeing you guys again!
Team VolleyRocket
Congratulations on pool play. Good luck tomorrow.
Jeff
Team Volleyrocket- Thank you. Fun doing the interview. Hopefully we can do it again.
Jeff - Thanks.
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