4X4 Match

Just finished the 4x4 match today. Phil, EY, Nicole and I defeated Ricardo, Emmanuel, Talita and Renata in 3 games. The first game was close until midway when they made some errors and we started to pull away. Our strategy was for Phil and I to serve tough jumpers and EY and Nicole to serve short balls. Their strategy was to serve me short and deep on the right side and try to keep the ball on the right side of the court and away from Phil. We won that game 21-17. The second game they switched strategies and begin serving Phil short and deep. It worked well and they won 21-17. The third game was a battle. We went up 6-4 when I stuffed Ricardo. They came back strong though on some errors and errant passes. They went up 12-9 before we sided out. Then EY served a net dribbler for an ace which got us going. The next play I believe Phil stuffed a ball to tie it up at 12. They sided out and we switched sides. Then we sided out on an angle hit by me. They were all over Phil and were late in blocking me. They followed with a sideout by Ricardo. They were now serving for match at 14-13. Phil got a 2 set in the middle with both Ricardo and Emmanuel blocking. He got stuffed but EY made a great cover and Phil put the next ball away. The next play they made an error for us to go up the match point. Both teams sided out with shots on the next 2 plays. We sided out for 17-16 and then Phil and I blocked Ricardo. Phil got the block but we were both blocking and that was game 18-16.

Have to say it was really an exciting match. The crowd was pretty good and very into the match. All in all I had a good time down here in Sao Paolo. We fly out tonight around midnight and get home midday Monday.