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.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Long Beach AVP
Back in the states again and it feels good to be home. Still getting up before the crack of dawn and exhausted by 5pm but that is jet lag for you. Better coming West than going East.
First NBC event on the AVP coming up in Long Beach. Everyone is looking forward to that. Money is a little more and the points towards season ending tourneys are more too. Of course there have been some major shakeups throughout the draw. With the break up of Matt and Sean you see a major trickle down effect. I think there were a lot of players who have been silently (or maybe not so silently) biding their time until they had the opportunity to jump on one of those two guys. Both of those guys ended up going with, "Reunited and it feels so good!!!" Matt with old flame Casey and Sean with old flame from last year, Dax. Both these teams should have no trouble getting back into the groove with one another since they played for at least a year or more. Then on down the line with Nick/Mark re-united, Jeff/Ring, Wong/Larry re-united too, Canyon scooping young Billy up, and so on and so forth. Only teams staying together in the top 10 were Hyden/Keenan and Fred/Anthony. Plus the top 3 teams too.
On the women's side the split of Holly and Logan is a bit of a shocker. I think Logan has come a long way under the tutelage of Holly and become a much better player. Still has a great upside to her play as well once she ends the indoor thing and focuses exclusively on the beach. Diane and Logan are great at offense but what about ball control and defense. Will be interesting there. Kind of the big and big thing again. Holly picks up Brittany I think. No major trickle down though. Most teams at the top stuck together.
Hope to see you all in Long Beach.
First NBC event on the AVP coming up in Long Beach. Everyone is looking forward to that. Money is a little more and the points towards season ending tourneys are more too. Of course there have been some major shakeups throughout the draw. With the break up of Matt and Sean you see a major trickle down effect. I think there were a lot of players who have been silently (or maybe not so silently) biding their time until they had the opportunity to jump on one of those two guys. Both of those guys ended up going with, "Reunited and it feels so good!!!" Matt with old flame Casey and Sean with old flame from last year, Dax. Both these teams should have no trouble getting back into the groove with one another since they played for at least a year or more. Then on down the line with Nick/Mark re-united, Jeff/Ring, Wong/Larry re-united too, Canyon scooping young Billy up, and so on and so forth. Only teams staying together in the top 10 were Hyden/Keenan and Fred/Anthony. Plus the top 3 teams too.
On the women's side the split of Holly and Logan is a bit of a shocker. I think Logan has come a long way under the tutelage of Holly and become a much better player. Still has a great upside to her play as well once she ends the indoor thing and focuses exclusively on the beach. Diane and Logan are great at offense but what about ball control and defense. Will be interesting there. Kind of the big and big thing again. Holly picks up Brittany I think. No major trickle down though. Most teams at the top stuck together.
Hope to see you all in Long Beach.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Bronze in Berlin
Phil and I took the bronze here in Berlin. We lost to the second brasilian team, 15-13 in the third. In the first game we got smoked. We scored one real point and Marcio and Fabio were hammering the ball straight down. Lost 21-15. In the second we were down most of the game but made a comeback and kept the score close. I chopped a ball sharp angle just past Marcio for the 21-19 win. In the third we dropped down 5-2 early and then brought it back to lead 13-12. But a sideout and 2 Marcio dig and putaways made the match for them.
We received a forfeit in the Bronze medal match due to Julius Brink hurting his shoulder in the semifinal game.
The final was a battle with the 3rd German team beating brasil in the first but losing in the second. The third was all tied up at 10 all when the big guys started dropping like flies. Fabio called a medical timeout as he was suffering from the heat. Then Koreng called a medical as he started to go down too. His partner called a second medical for him and then they took their regular timeout. He went out there but was really woozy and stumbling. Tried to block on the first play and pretty much fell over. His partner called the game as he realized that Koreng was in trouble.
The consensus out here is that the FIVB Tour has been in cold weather for the entire length of the tour this year. Then all of a sudden you get a heat spell the last 2 days and guys were struggling. Phil and I had no problem but last week in Seaside Heights was similar to the weather here in Berlin. Add to that the FIVB is always 4 day tourneys and the most games you ever play is 3, you get guys that are not in as good of game shape as perhaps they should be.
We received a forfeit in the Bronze medal match due to Julius Brink hurting his shoulder in the semifinal game.
The final was a battle with the 3rd German team beating brasil in the first but losing in the second. The third was all tied up at 10 all when the big guys started dropping like flies. Fabio called a medical timeout as he was suffering from the heat. Then Koreng called a medical as he started to go down too. His partner called a second medical for him and then they took their regular timeout. He went out there but was really woozy and stumbling. Tried to block on the first play and pretty much fell over. His partner called the game as he realized that Koreng was in trouble.
The consensus out here is that the FIVB Tour has been in cold weather for the entire length of the tour this year. Then all of a sudden you get a heat spell the last 2 days and guys were struggling. Phil and I had no problem but last week in Seaside Heights was similar to the weather here in Berlin. Add to that the FIVB is always 4 day tourneys and the most games you ever play is 3, you get guys that are not in as good of game shape as perhaps they should be.
Friday, July 13, 2007
So far so good in Berlin
So far so good in Berlin for Phil and I. We went through pool play winning all of our matches in 2 games. We did have a semi-tight one with the Kiwi’s in the second game. Gave up some points at the end to make it close. Against Georgia we had another tight one in the second game. Had to go overtime in that game but had match point the entire time.
The Kiwis are a great bunch of guys. Kirk and Jason are young talented players and well liked on tour. Jason is a little on the small side but jumps really well and has great ball control. Scooped a lot of balls against me. Kirk is about 6’3 or 4 but skies. Goofy footer but reaches well and has a great pair of setting hands. In the first game it was soggy and cold. It was tight until about halfway through and then Phil let off some heat seekers from the service line and we went on a 5 point run. The second was close but we pulled away to about 20-17 before they got some points on bad plays by me. Put an end to that at 21-19 though.
In our second match vs. Georgia we played well with the exception of one short stretch in the second. The guys from Georgia are actually brasilian transplants and are a good team. We smoked them in the first like 21-14. We were beating them 9-5 in the second when we gave up 4 points in a row. A sideout, bad pass, bad set, bad hit into net by me, sharp angle hit in the net by me, and lastly Phil scooped that I scooped but then got stuffed. All of a sudden 9-9. We traded points after that and it took us until our 4th match point to win on a shank pass on a good serve up the middle by Phil. Wasn’t really a shanked pass so much as they both went for it and got tangled up.
In our third match vs. the Australians we played very well. They have a very intricate offense which can be very potent but can also kill you if you don’t execute. When they got the good pass, set it was usually a sideout as Phil was moving all over the net to try and stop them. When the pass was so so they struggled to sideout. Also, they missed a ton of serves which made it much easier to sideout for us. Scores were 16 and 15 and we gave up 4 points in a row in the first game at game point.
Tomorrow is a new day though as we play the winner of Austria and the Netherlands.
The Kiwis are a great bunch of guys. Kirk and Jason are young talented players and well liked on tour. Jason is a little on the small side but jumps really well and has great ball control. Scooped a lot of balls against me. Kirk is about 6’3 or 4 but skies. Goofy footer but reaches well and has a great pair of setting hands. In the first game it was soggy and cold. It was tight until about halfway through and then Phil let off some heat seekers from the service line and we went on a 5 point run. The second was close but we pulled away to about 20-17 before they got some points on bad plays by me. Put an end to that at 21-19 though.
In our second match vs. Georgia we played well with the exception of one short stretch in the second. The guys from Georgia are actually brasilian transplants and are a good team. We smoked them in the first like 21-14. We were beating them 9-5 in the second when we gave up 4 points in a row. A sideout, bad pass, bad set, bad hit into net by me, sharp angle hit in the net by me, and lastly Phil scooped that I scooped but then got stuffed. All of a sudden 9-9. We traded points after that and it took us until our 4th match point to win on a shank pass on a good serve up the middle by Phil. Wasn’t really a shanked pass so much as they both went for it and got tangled up.
In our third match vs. the Australians we played very well. They have a very intricate offense which can be very potent but can also kill you if you don’t execute. When they got the good pass, set it was usually a sideout as Phil was moving all over the net to try and stop them. When the pass was so so they struggled to sideout. Also, they missed a ton of serves which made it much easier to sideout for us. Scores were 16 and 15 and we gave up 4 points in a row in the first game at game point.
Tomorrow is a new day though as we play the winner of Austria and the Netherlands.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Seaside Heights 2nd
Seaside was a tough one. Phil and I took second place to Mike and Stein. High level match from what everyone told me.
Our first match was against a kid I recruited at UCSB named Alex Gutor. He just graduated from Penn State this year and is a very good outside hitter with a live arm. We beat he and his partner pretty easily, 9 and 7. In our second match we played Blanton and Baxter and had to go three to beat them. They played well in the first and beat us 21-19. We came back strong in the second and third and beat them by a couple of points in each game to advance to the quarters on Saturday.
In the quarters we played Ring/Olsen. We played very well and beat them handily in two games. Never really trailed and got out to good leads in both games. Our next round was against Loomis/Stolfus. They had beat Williams/Jennings and received a great draw when Mariano/Ratledge beat KK/Wong. We beat them in two games although we had to come back from being down 12-9 at the break in the second game. Good luck to Ty and Hans as they represent the USA in the PanAm games coming up. Do us proud boys.
In the crossover semis we played team jump serve, Fred and Anthony. They had groveled all the way through the losers bracket to get to the crossovers. They played well and served well too. I don’t think they had many aces but they got Phil in a lot of trouble passing. He was all over the court and I was sending up sky ball bump sets from everywhere. Thankfully Phil is probably one of the best in the world at dealing with that kind of set and at the end of each game we pulled it together and won 21-19, 21-15.
The finals were a great match between two teams that were playing very high level volleyball. Stein and Mike ended up winning the match 23-21, 15-21, 15-13. Really good game with crazy rallies that had all the players gassing for air. Just wish we could have come out on top.
Our first match was against a kid I recruited at UCSB named Alex Gutor. He just graduated from Penn State this year and is a very good outside hitter with a live arm. We beat he and his partner pretty easily, 9 and 7. In our second match we played Blanton and Baxter and had to go three to beat them. They played well in the first and beat us 21-19. We came back strong in the second and third and beat them by a couple of points in each game to advance to the quarters on Saturday.
In the quarters we played Ring/Olsen. We played very well and beat them handily in two games. Never really trailed and got out to good leads in both games. Our next round was against Loomis/Stolfus. They had beat Williams/Jennings and received a great draw when Mariano/Ratledge beat KK/Wong. We beat them in two games although we had to come back from being down 12-9 at the break in the second game. Good luck to Ty and Hans as they represent the USA in the PanAm games coming up. Do us proud boys.
In the crossover semis we played team jump serve, Fred and Anthony. They had groveled all the way through the losers bracket to get to the crossovers. They played well and served well too. I don’t think they had many aces but they got Phil in a lot of trouble passing. He was all over the court and I was sending up sky ball bump sets from everywhere. Thankfully Phil is probably one of the best in the world at dealing with that kind of set and at the end of each game we pulled it together and won 21-19, 21-15.
The finals were a great match between two teams that were playing very high level volleyball. Stein and Mike ended up winning the match 23-21, 15-21, 15-13. Really good game with crazy rallies that had all the players gassing for air. Just wish we could have come out on top.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Free webcast from NJ, Wallpapers of Todd & Phil
A couple of notes from the Blog Administrator ("TJ") -
From July 6 - 8, during the AVP Crocs Tour event being held in Seaside Heights, NJ, the AVP is offering free access to live tournament coverage on avp.com TV and avp.com Mosaic. To gain access you need to be a registered member of AVP. To register on AVP.com - https://secure.avp.com/enterworkflow.do?flowId=registration.profile
You can now find wallpapers of Todd & Phil on Todd's web page -
http://www.ToddJRogers.com/
From July 6 - 8, during the AVP Crocs Tour event being held in Seaside Heights, NJ, the AVP is offering free access to live tournament coverage on avp.com TV and avp.com Mosaic. To gain access you need to be a registered member of AVP. To register on AVP.com - https://secure.avp.com/enterwo
You can now find wallpapers of Todd & Phil on Todd's web page -
http://www.ToddJRogers.com/
New Jersey & Answer to Emails
Seaside Heights, New Jersey coming this weekend. Good to be back home on the AVP with flights that are not 10 hours long.
I checked out the weather and it looks like it will actually be pretty good. Considering that we have played in the rain in the last 5 events, I am pretty stoked. Should be interesting to see how the teams that have been travelling to FIVB events do in this tourney. Everyone else has had a nice break while we have been playing and lots of travel too. The flip side is that the FIVB has a higher level of competition and therefore it will be easier. Take your pick. I think both are true so you get a wash.
Wanted to answer some folks emails since I have been blogging and answer some questions.
Scott in Manhattan Beach - The Euro's ect... have become very good beach volleyball players particularly in the last 7 years. Before that, the americans and brasilians dominated utterly with only a handful of other teams being in the mix. Now that you have all the rule changes from 2001, you are seeing an influx of very good and very big indoor players. The learning curve of this "new game" is very short. Players can come out who have a good indoor background and be effective in a year or so. These guys are good athletes and very good indoor volleyball players. The transition used to be you had to bomb jump serves/pass those serves/set those tough passes/drop and play defense a ton. Now it is: bomb jump serve(miss a ton) and then make it an easier serve so better pass/easy set/block block block and pretty much never drop off the net. Might be confusing there but you get the jist.
The AVP is not currently letting these players play on the AVP tour. Most of the AVP players agree with this stance and would freak if it was changed. Essentially, the thinking is that if the foreign players played over in the AVP, they would take a lot of money from american players and make it tougher for young up and comers to crack in.
German Torres - Thank you for your support. It would be very fun to come to your country and play in an exhibition or something like that as well as do a clinic. It would have to be sometime when the AVP and FIVB do not have tournaments. Usually in April the AVP has tourneys. I suspect next year they may even start in March because of the Olympics. Contact me and we can discuss it more.
Ryan Reeder - Thank you. I like to think that I have put a lot of time and effort into being a good beach volleyball player. I consider myself a good athlete but certainly not a dominating one and therefore have to do all the little things well to be able to compete with the better athletes. I will take care of your request but please be patient and send me a reminder after Austria.
Diane Pernicone - Thank you for your compliments. Phil and I will be going to Austria. We have signed up and have full intentions on playing in the GS there. It is too important of a tourney for the Olympics to miss it. I am bummed I am missing Chicago as it is my favorite AVP stop outside of California. We are contractually supposed to play in all of the AVP events although there are some discrepancies in the contract depending on who you talk to. It is a confusing topic and one that is still ongoing. I apologize to you and any fans that were planning on going to Chicago to see me play. I am sure it will still be a great tourney as always.
Tyler - I agree fully with you regarding parking lots vs. beach sites. Let us hope the AVP comes to the same conclusion.
JT- Thanks. I hear you on your loyalties and would like to see team USA take Gold and Silver on both sides.
Drew in Santa Cruz - Thanks. I do my best and will continue to do so on the court as well as keeping people informed as to what is happening with Phil and I.
I checked out the weather and it looks like it will actually be pretty good. Considering that we have played in the rain in the last 5 events, I am pretty stoked. Should be interesting to see how the teams that have been travelling to FIVB events do in this tourney. Everyone else has had a nice break while we have been playing and lots of travel too. The flip side is that the FIVB has a higher level of competition and therefore it will be easier. Take your pick. I think both are true so you get a wash.
Wanted to answer some folks emails since I have been blogging and answer some questions.
Scott in Manhattan Beach - The Euro's ect... have become very good beach volleyball players particularly in the last 7 years. Before that, the americans and brasilians dominated utterly with only a handful of other teams being in the mix. Now that you have all the rule changes from 2001, you are seeing an influx of very good and very big indoor players. The learning curve of this "new game" is very short. Players can come out who have a good indoor background and be effective in a year or so. These guys are good athletes and very good indoor volleyball players. The transition used to be you had to bomb jump serves/pass those serves/set those tough passes/drop and play defense a ton. Now it is: bomb jump serve(miss a ton) and then make it an easier serve so better pass/easy set/block block block and pretty much never drop off the net. Might be confusing there but you get the jist.
The AVP is not currently letting these players play on the AVP tour. Most of the AVP players agree with this stance and would freak if it was changed. Essentially, the thinking is that if the foreign players played over in the AVP, they would take a lot of money from american players and make it tougher for young up and comers to crack in.
German Torres - Thank you for your support. It would be very fun to come to your country and play in an exhibition or something like that as well as do a clinic. It would have to be sometime when the AVP and FIVB do not have tournaments. Usually in April the AVP has tourneys. I suspect next year they may even start in March because of the Olympics. Contact me and we can discuss it more.
Ryan Reeder - Thank you. I like to think that I have put a lot of time and effort into being a good beach volleyball player. I consider myself a good athlete but certainly not a dominating one and therefore have to do all the little things well to be able to compete with the better athletes. I will take care of your request but please be patient and send me a reminder after Austria.
Diane Pernicone - Thank you for your compliments. Phil and I will be going to Austria. We have signed up and have full intentions on playing in the GS there. It is too important of a tourney for the Olympics to miss it. I am bummed I am missing Chicago as it is my favorite AVP stop outside of California. We are contractually supposed to play in all of the AVP events although there are some discrepancies in the contract depending on who you talk to. It is a confusing topic and one that is still ongoing. I apologize to you and any fans that were planning on going to Chicago to see me play. I am sure it will still be a great tourney as always.
Tyler - I agree fully with you regarding parking lots vs. beach sites. Let us hope the AVP comes to the same conclusion.
JT- Thanks. I hear you on your loyalties and would like to see team USA take Gold and Silver on both sides.
Drew in Santa Cruz - Thanks. I do my best and will continue to do so on the court as well as keeping people informed as to what is happening with Phil and I.
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