Well Austria didn't go like Phil and I planned. Looking at the silver lining, at least we got a day of R&R at home. Now back to the grindstone.
Phil and I took a 17th in Austria which really isn't going to help us towards the 2008 Olympics. Wasted opportunity is how I see it. We lost to a great Netherlands team in a mega battle. Score was 21-16, 22-24, and 15-17. We had our chances in the second and third games and did not convert. Gotta convert against the good teams and the bad teams for that matter. We actually played pretty well as did they. It was a good game worthy of a prime time match but relegated to the 17th place match. Such are the rigors of the FIVB Tour.
So now we continue on to the Granddaddy of them all, Manhattan Beach. Looking forward to once again be semi-local and not step on a plane to go somewhere. Just a leisurely drive down the 101 to the South Bay. Maybe take PCH to enjoy the view.
Things are definetely heating up in this stretch drive on the AVP. You have teams battling for the Best of the Beach in San Francisco (top 8 teams), God of the Beach in Vegas (top 12 players with top 4 getting byes into the second round), end of the year total points (all 16 regular season tourneys), Crocs Cup (best 14 out of 16 tourneys), most wins on tour, and of course who wins the most money on tour. Lots of fun stuff to look at. Phil and I are ahead in all those categories but not by much. We have our work cut out for us over the next month. Looking forward to it.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Friday, August 3, 2007
Struggling in Pool Play
Phil and I managed to escape out of pool play as the third place team. No bye this time around though as we have received in the other Grand Slams. We did the same thing last year so we will look to last year as our inspiration for this year.
We were seeded second in the tournament and played the 31st seeded Italian team. They played well and we lost in two. Truth of the matter is that we played very poorly. We lost 21-17 and 23-21. Phil was a bit out of sorts and I was just average. I didn’t dig a lot of balls although I sided out fairly well. Think I hit one ball out and got scooped a couple of times. Phil was struggling to sideout and pass. He hit 5 balls out and his passing, which is normally pretty good, was not great. He also struggled from the service line, missing about 60% of his jump serves before he went to the jump floaty. Believe it or not, he received more serves than I did. Probably not by much, but I would guess around 60/40. He also was aced 3 times. To give you an example, at 21 all in the second game, they served the ball down the middle. He took a step to the ball and was yelling ‘you go’ and the ball almost hit his foot. Then he proceeded to say to himself, “what are you doing?” One of those games where you are just out of sorts.
Our second match was similar to our first match. We lost to the Spaniards 21-18, 21-16. Mostly a sideout affair. Phil got a lot of serves again although probably about 40/60 to me this time. He did not hit any balls out but was a little shaky on the passing which led to him getting blocked several times. One of them I set him too tight and he got blocked. He also got aced on a wicked float serve down his line. I gave up my usual couple of scoopies for the other team which they converted for points. We were ahead most of the second but collapsed at the end of the match. Still out of sorts.
In our third match we played Estonia and beat them in the first 21-14. We played much better on offense and defense. They went right after Phil in the beginning of the game and he passed perfect and sided out perfectly as well. That made them go at me and other than one dig, they didn’t score at all. In the the second game we jumped out to a 7-0 lead and they forfeited due to injury. The left sider has a bad shoulder and he was struggling to put the ball away. Good win at this time for us. We needed it.
Now we have one more match to win today. We have to play in the first round of the playoffs but it will be a draw so who knows where we will end up. Hopefully we will get a good draw as there are some good draws and bad draws out there. Either way, we made our bed by not winning and now we get to lie in it.
We were seeded second in the tournament and played the 31st seeded Italian team. They played well and we lost in two. Truth of the matter is that we played very poorly. We lost 21-17 and 23-21. Phil was a bit out of sorts and I was just average. I didn’t dig a lot of balls although I sided out fairly well. Think I hit one ball out and got scooped a couple of times. Phil was struggling to sideout and pass. He hit 5 balls out and his passing, which is normally pretty good, was not great. He also struggled from the service line, missing about 60% of his jump serves before he went to the jump floaty. Believe it or not, he received more serves than I did. Probably not by much, but I would guess around 60/40. He also was aced 3 times. To give you an example, at 21 all in the second game, they served the ball down the middle. He took a step to the ball and was yelling ‘you go’ and the ball almost hit his foot. Then he proceeded to say to himself, “what are you doing?” One of those games where you are just out of sorts.
Our second match was similar to our first match. We lost to the Spaniards 21-18, 21-16. Mostly a sideout affair. Phil got a lot of serves again although probably about 40/60 to me this time. He did not hit any balls out but was a little shaky on the passing which led to him getting blocked several times. One of them I set him too tight and he got blocked. He also got aced on a wicked float serve down his line. I gave up my usual couple of scoopies for the other team which they converted for points. We were ahead most of the second but collapsed at the end of the match. Still out of sorts.
In our third match we played Estonia and beat them in the first 21-14. We played much better on offense and defense. They went right after Phil in the beginning of the game and he passed perfect and sided out perfectly as well. That made them go at me and other than one dig, they didn’t score at all. In the the second game we jumped out to a 7-0 lead and they forfeited due to injury. The left sider has a bad shoulder and he was struggling to put the ball away. Good win at this time for us. We needed it.
Now we have one more match to win today. We have to play in the first round of the playoffs but it will be a draw so who knows where we will end up. Hopefully we will get a good draw as there are some good draws and bad draws out there. Either way, we made our bed by not winning and now we get to lie in it.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
World Champions
It feels pretty good to be the “World Champions”. It has not really set in to be honest. Every once in awhile it kind of jumps out at me, particularly when I think of another sport and who the world champion is in that sport. It is very surreal right now.
When I last blogged it was Thursday night in Switzerland and we had just finished pool play. Here is the rest of the tourney from my perspective.
We played only one match again on Friday. In the first round of playoffs we played Maia/Brenha from Portugal. This team scares me in big tourneys as they play well. They played very well against us and gave us a very stiff test. We actually played really well against them. The little guy was working Phil over on his block. He has an insane arm and wrist and I am surprised Phil has any hair left under his armpits after being burned so much. We were able to win 18 and 18 but it was a battle the entire way. We were helped by a possibly bad call at 19-18 our lead in the second game. The little guy went low line and it hit the top of the net which then pushed against Phil’s arm. The ref called no touch by Phil and 4 contacts by the Portugues. They were seriously pissed as it was an easy cover for them. Instead of being tied at 19 all it was 20-18 our lead. Tough call no matter which way it goes.
On Saturday we started out at noon against the Austrian team of Doppler/Gartmayer. As I have said before, they are a very tough serving team. They never got it going though. They struggled from the get go and Phil was placing his serves really well. He wasn’t really bombing it, but placing it on the sideline or right up the middle. They also helped our cause by missing probably 50% of their serves and making a ton of errors. Phil had 1 block and I had about 2 digs so we really didn’t earn a lot of points as much as they gave us the points. The final scores were around 15 and 15.
In our third playoff game we took on the number 1 Chinese team of Wu/Xu who we affectionately have named Tiny and Big Pimp. I have no idea behind the nick names but they are funny. They are really getting good and they gave us everything we could handle. The first game we slowly forged a lead but right at the end we gave it all up due to two aces and a block by Tiny. We managed 2 sideouts at the end to win 21-19. In the second game we were behind most of the game by a point or two. At about 16-19 we sided out and then Phil served two really good serves to create points for us. We traded sideouts on the next two plays and then I served two float serves that they struggled with. On one the set was coming from way off the net and was a trap set that Phil stuffed. The final point was another bad pass and overset that Phil poked into the corner. Final game was 22-20. That ended play for us on Saturday and put us into the final four on Sunday.
On a side note, every year that I have been to Gstaad there is a Greek American couple who has taken the Americans out for dinner. This year was no exception. The dinner has always been on Saturday night and I have been ousted from the competition already. Therefore I have a couple of glasses of wine and enjoy a fantastic meal. This year I had to forego the couple of glasses of wine. Although I must admit, I did have ½ a glass of Dom Champagne and a ½ glass of the excellent Cabernet Sauvignon. The food was again fantastic. To start off we had an assortment of meats and cheeses. The main course was a cheese fondue and a beef fondue. The beef fondue is something I have never had nor even ever heard of. They give you a plate of thinly sliced high grade raw beef. You skewer the beef and put it into a small pot of what I would term beef broth. The beef broth is sitting over a little burner and it cooks your meat. You take it out and dip it one of a variety of sauces. Very good and it didn’t seem like a lot of food at the time but when I was done I was comfortably full. The dessert was recommended by Michael, our host, as being excellent. He was not wrong. It was a homemade pecan ice cream that was utterly delicious. Thank you very much Michael and Christina.
On Sunday we played Emanuel and Ricardo in the semis. Epic match that was a real joy to play in. The first game was tight until about midway when we pulled away. Ended up winning the game 21-16. The second game my passing broke down on float serves of all things. I struggled to sideout and made a couple of errors. They also made some very good digs and went to a 14-7 lead. Final score ended up being 21-13 Brasil. The third game was a great game. It was back and forth in the beginning. In the middle we went up 10-7 and had a chance for 11-7 but did not convert the point. They came back with a scoop and put away on a pokey by me and a pass into the net by Phil that we had to give them a free ball. All of a sudden it was 10-10. We switched sides and the next play Ricardo scooped Phil and put it away. A huge 5 point switch!! Phil sided out the next ball to make it 11 all. We traded sideouts and then scored a point to go up 13-12 on the side switch. The next play Phil blocked Emanuel straight down but out of bounds by about 6 inches. So close. Phil sided out the next ball and we had our first of 5 match points. Emanuel shot it down the line over Phil and out of my reach. I sided out with a cut shot. They sided out with a big angle bang. I sided out with a line shot. They sided out with another bang off of Phil. I sided out with a deep angle hit. Ricardo sided out on a pokey that Phil swatted but out of bounds on the other side of the court. Ricardo tried to go sharp angle on Phil and hit the ball just wide on the serve. Match point number 5 I scooped Emanuel’s angle bang back over the net. Ricardo took the ball and then Phil stuffed him straight down for the match, 19-17. Crowd was going nuts and Phil and I were very stoked to say the least.
In the final we played the Russians. The key was not to let the “Bazooka” go off from the service line. This guy hits the hardest serve I have ever tried to pass. Fortunately we are about 2000 meters above sea level and the air is thinner. He had only one ace on a well placed middle serve that was not really that fast. We jumped out to a lead pretty quickly in the first game and never looked back to win 21-16. In the second it was close in the beginning and then midway through we scored a bunch of points and ended up winning 21-14 for the big “W”.
All in all it was a great tourney for Phil and I. Really had a great time in Gstaad. How can you not when you are in a beautiful place and win the biggest tourney of the year. One day it will completely hit me that Phil and I are World Championships. Right now, I am just happy to have won a tourney and get that much closer to getting to the Beijing Olympics.
When I last blogged it was Thursday night in Switzerland and we had just finished pool play. Here is the rest of the tourney from my perspective.
We played only one match again on Friday. In the first round of playoffs we played Maia/Brenha from Portugal. This team scares me in big tourneys as they play well. They played very well against us and gave us a very stiff test. We actually played really well against them. The little guy was working Phil over on his block. He has an insane arm and wrist and I am surprised Phil has any hair left under his armpits after being burned so much. We were able to win 18 and 18 but it was a battle the entire way. We were helped by a possibly bad call at 19-18 our lead in the second game. The little guy went low line and it hit the top of the net which then pushed against Phil’s arm. The ref called no touch by Phil and 4 contacts by the Portugues. They were seriously pissed as it was an easy cover for them. Instead of being tied at 19 all it was 20-18 our lead. Tough call no matter which way it goes.
On Saturday we started out at noon against the Austrian team of Doppler/Gartmayer. As I have said before, they are a very tough serving team. They never got it going though. They struggled from the get go and Phil was placing his serves really well. He wasn’t really bombing it, but placing it on the sideline or right up the middle. They also helped our cause by missing probably 50% of their serves and making a ton of errors. Phil had 1 block and I had about 2 digs so we really didn’t earn a lot of points as much as they gave us the points. The final scores were around 15 and 15.
In our third playoff game we took on the number 1 Chinese team of Wu/Xu who we affectionately have named Tiny and Big Pimp. I have no idea behind the nick names but they are funny. They are really getting good and they gave us everything we could handle. The first game we slowly forged a lead but right at the end we gave it all up due to two aces and a block by Tiny. We managed 2 sideouts at the end to win 21-19. In the second game we were behind most of the game by a point or two. At about 16-19 we sided out and then Phil served two really good serves to create points for us. We traded sideouts on the next two plays and then I served two float serves that they struggled with. On one the set was coming from way off the net and was a trap set that Phil stuffed. The final point was another bad pass and overset that Phil poked into the corner. Final game was 22-20. That ended play for us on Saturday and put us into the final four on Sunday.
On a side note, every year that I have been to Gstaad there is a Greek American couple who has taken the Americans out for dinner. This year was no exception. The dinner has always been on Saturday night and I have been ousted from the competition already. Therefore I have a couple of glasses of wine and enjoy a fantastic meal. This year I had to forego the couple of glasses of wine. Although I must admit, I did have ½ a glass of Dom Champagne and a ½ glass of the excellent Cabernet Sauvignon. The food was again fantastic. To start off we had an assortment of meats and cheeses. The main course was a cheese fondue and a beef fondue. The beef fondue is something I have never had nor even ever heard of. They give you a plate of thinly sliced high grade raw beef. You skewer the beef and put it into a small pot of what I would term beef broth. The beef broth is sitting over a little burner and it cooks your meat. You take it out and dip it one of a variety of sauces. Very good and it didn’t seem like a lot of food at the time but when I was done I was comfortably full. The dessert was recommended by Michael, our host, as being excellent. He was not wrong. It was a homemade pecan ice cream that was utterly delicious. Thank you very much Michael and Christina.
On Sunday we played Emanuel and Ricardo in the semis. Epic match that was a real joy to play in. The first game was tight until about midway when we pulled away. Ended up winning the game 21-16. The second game my passing broke down on float serves of all things. I struggled to sideout and made a couple of errors. They also made some very good digs and went to a 14-7 lead. Final score ended up being 21-13 Brasil. The third game was a great game. It was back and forth in the beginning. In the middle we went up 10-7 and had a chance for 11-7 but did not convert the point. They came back with a scoop and put away on a pokey by me and a pass into the net by Phil that we had to give them a free ball. All of a sudden it was 10-10. We switched sides and the next play Ricardo scooped Phil and put it away. A huge 5 point switch!! Phil sided out the next ball to make it 11 all. We traded sideouts and then scored a point to go up 13-12 on the side switch. The next play Phil blocked Emanuel straight down but out of bounds by about 6 inches. So close. Phil sided out the next ball and we had our first of 5 match points. Emanuel shot it down the line over Phil and out of my reach. I sided out with a cut shot. They sided out with a big angle bang. I sided out with a line shot. They sided out with another bang off of Phil. I sided out with a deep angle hit. Ricardo sided out on a pokey that Phil swatted but out of bounds on the other side of the court. Ricardo tried to go sharp angle on Phil and hit the ball just wide on the serve. Match point number 5 I scooped Emanuel’s angle bang back over the net. Ricardo took the ball and then Phil stuffed him straight down for the match, 19-17. Crowd was going nuts and Phil and I were very stoked to say the least.
In the final we played the Russians. The key was not to let the “Bazooka” go off from the service line. This guy hits the hardest serve I have ever tried to pass. Fortunately we are about 2000 meters above sea level and the air is thinner. He had only one ace on a well placed middle serve that was not really that fast. We jumped out to a lead pretty quickly in the first game and never looked back to win 21-16. In the second it was close in the beginning and then midway through we scored a bunch of points and ended up winning 21-14 for the big “W”.
All in all it was a great tourney for Phil and I. Really had a great time in Gstaad. How can you not when you are in a beautiful place and win the biggest tourney of the year. One day it will completely hit me that Phil and I are World Championships. Right now, I am just happy to have won a tourney and get that much closer to getting to the Beijing Olympics.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Todd Rogers & Phil Dalhausser Win FIVB World Championship of Beach Volleyball
From the FIVB
F I V B FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE VOLLEYBALL
PRESS RELEASE 29.07.2007
AMERICANS SWEEP SWATCH-FIVB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GOLD MEDALS
FIVB President Dr. Ruben Acosta (left) and President of Canton of Bern Samuel Schmid (second from left) present gold medal winners Todd Rogers (right) and Phil Dalhausser (second from right) of the United States
Gstaad, Switzerland, July 29, 2007 - The only thing that Todd Rogers mishandled here Sunday was the opening of a champagne bottle after he and Phil Dalhausser won the men’s finale to give the United States a sweep of the gold medals this weekend at the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships powered by 1to1 energy.
After eliminating reigning Olympic champions Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil in the morning’s first semi-final match, Dalhausser and Rogers joined compatriots Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh as USA gold medal winners this weekend by defeating Dmitri Barsouk and Igor Kolodinsky of Russia 21-16 and 21-14 in the 45-minute finale.
In addition to sharing the US$60,000 first-place prize in the $1-million “Beach Volleyball Bash” in the Swiss Alps, Dalhausser and Rogers will benefit from the 1,000 points towards qualifying for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. A tandem’s best eight finishes on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour through July 20, 2008 will count towards qualifying for the 24-team field.
“This weekend was about Beach Volleyball, but not just about Beach Volleyball,” said the 33-year Rogers, who was named the SWATCH most outstanding player for the SWATCH-FIVB World Championships. “For me, these experiences are what I will remember. It not only is the competition, but it is about the fans in the stands, the beautiful surroundings and the overall atmosphere of good feelings generated this weekend.”
Rogers also added, that his partner “was the real outstanding player for the event. I bet Phil that he would be the SWATCH top player for the event since this was a homecoming for him and his family. I share this award with him as he is becoming one of the great players in the world. I am lucky to have him as a partner.”
Sunday’s title was the second SWATCH gold medal for the Americans, who won for the first time on the FIVB tour last August in Austria where Dalhausser and Rogers defeated Emanuel and Ricardo for the title. The next stop on the international circuit is next week in Austria where Dalhausser and Rogers will be defending their Klagenfurt title as the reigning SWATCH-FIVB World Champions.
“It is a tremendous feeling to win this title in front of my parents and relatives,” said the 27-year old Dalhausser, who lived a year in Switzerland before moving to the United States with his Swiss mother and German father. “We played two quality opponents today. Except for the second set against the Brazilians, we had a great day.”
Rogers and Dalhausser advanced to the gold medal match by posting a 21-16, 13-21 and 19-17 win in 68 minutes over Emanuel and Ricardo, who captured the 2003 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships in Rio de Janeiro before claiming Olympic gold the next year in Athens.
Barsouk and Kolodinsky, who shared $45,000 for second-place as the first Russian men’s or women’s team to play in a SWATCH-FIVB World Tour gold medal match in the 20-plus-year history of the International circuit, advanced to the title match with a 21-13 and 21-19 win in 45 minutes over Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack of Australia.
In the bronze medal match, Schacht and Slack ended Brazil’s run of men’s medals at the SWATCH-FIVB World Championships as the Australians upset Emanuel and Ricardo 21-17 and 21-19 win in 42 minutes to capture the $35,000 third-place prize. The Brazilians split $28,000 for fourth-place.
The eighth of 13 double gender stops on the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour, the women’s 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships ended Saturday with reigning Olympic champions May-Treanor and Walsh defeating Jia Tian and Jie Wang of China 21-16 and 21-10 for their third-straight world title.
F I V B FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE VOLLEYBALL
PRESS RELEASE 29.07.2007
AMERICANS SWEEP SWATCH-FIVB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GOLD MEDALS
FIVB President Dr. Ruben Acosta (left) and President of Canton of Bern Samuel Schmid (second from left) present gold medal winners Todd Rogers (right) and Phil Dalhausser (second from right) of the United States
Gstaad, Switzerland, July 29, 2007 - The only thing that Todd Rogers mishandled here Sunday was the opening of a champagne bottle after he and Phil Dalhausser won the men’s finale to give the United States a sweep of the gold medals this weekend at the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships powered by 1to1 energy.
After eliminating reigning Olympic champions Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil in the morning’s first semi-final match, Dalhausser and Rogers joined compatriots Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh as USA gold medal winners this weekend by defeating Dmitri Barsouk and Igor Kolodinsky of Russia 21-16 and 21-14 in the 45-minute finale.
In addition to sharing the US$60,000 first-place prize in the $1-million “Beach Volleyball Bash” in the Swiss Alps, Dalhausser and Rogers will benefit from the 1,000 points towards qualifying for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. A tandem’s best eight finishes on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour through July 20, 2008 will count towards qualifying for the 24-team field.
“This weekend was about Beach Volleyball, but not just about Beach Volleyball,” said the 33-year Rogers, who was named the SWATCH most outstanding player for the SWATCH-FIVB World Championships. “For me, these experiences are what I will remember. It not only is the competition, but it is about the fans in the stands, the beautiful surroundings and the overall atmosphere of good feelings generated this weekend.”
Rogers also added, that his partner “was the real outstanding player for the event. I bet Phil that he would be the SWATCH top player for the event since this was a homecoming for him and his family. I share this award with him as he is becoming one of the great players in the world. I am lucky to have him as a partner.”
Sunday’s title was the second SWATCH gold medal for the Americans, who won for the first time on the FIVB tour last August in Austria where Dalhausser and Rogers defeated Emanuel and Ricardo for the title. The next stop on the international circuit is next week in Austria where Dalhausser and Rogers will be defending their Klagenfurt title as the reigning SWATCH-FIVB World Champions.
“It is a tremendous feeling to win this title in front of my parents and relatives,” said the 27-year old Dalhausser, who lived a year in Switzerland before moving to the United States with his Swiss mother and German father. “We played two quality opponents today. Except for the second set against the Brazilians, we had a great day.”
Rogers and Dalhausser advanced to the gold medal match by posting a 21-16, 13-21 and 19-17 win in 68 minutes over Emanuel and Ricardo, who captured the 2003 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships in Rio de Janeiro before claiming Olympic gold the next year in Athens.
Barsouk and Kolodinsky, who shared $45,000 for second-place as the first Russian men’s or women’s team to play in a SWATCH-FIVB World Tour gold medal match in the 20-plus-year history of the International circuit, advanced to the title match with a 21-13 and 21-19 win in 45 minutes over Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack of Australia.
In the bronze medal match, Schacht and Slack ended Brazil’s run of men’s medals at the SWATCH-FIVB World Championships as the Australians upset Emanuel and Ricardo 21-17 and 21-19 win in 42 minutes to capture the $35,000 third-place prize. The Brazilians split $28,000 for fourth-place.
The eighth of 13 double gender stops on the 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour, the women’s 2007 SWATCH-FIVB World Championships ended Saturday with reigning Olympic champions May-Treanor and Walsh defeating Jia Tian and Jie Wang of China 21-16 and 21-10 for their third-straight world title.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Pool Play in Gstaad
Everything going smoothly so far here in Gstaad. Phil and I won our pool over the last three days. We have played one match a day which is a bit ridiculous. I keep calling the FIVB tour the not in shape tour and this tourney just gives me more fuel to add to the fire. Personally I don’t like it because I want to get into the gym and work out ect… Tough to do that when you play everyday. Did get a workout in Wend. though.
Our first match was at 7pm on Tuesday vs. the 4th Swiss team. Never seen them before so had no idea what to expect. I was happy to be playing that late though with all the travel and time change stuff. Got a good warmup in and proceeded to thump them. Scores were 12 and 15 and if I had been more focused it would have been even worse. I think they might have been a bit nervous as well playing in front of the home crowd on center court in the World Champs. It was certainly to our advantage.
Our second pool play game was against the 3rd Netherlands team that beat Jake and Rosy in pool play in Berlin. We came out a bit sluggish. My sideout game was not top notch and Phil was still asleep. I gave up 3 points in a row to start the game but steadied out after that. Phil missed 80% of his serves trying to jump serve in the rarified air here in Gstaad. I dug a lot of balls but Phil’s transition setting was terrrrible and even when I did get a good set I was terrible. Led to a 23-21 loss in the first game. We picked it up after that and won 21-15 and 15-7. Phil started floating and going and we scored a ton of points on blocks, digs, and errors.
Our last game we played transplanted brasilians in the Georgia team. We won in 2 games with scores around 15 and 18. They were serving me in the first and I was siding out well. In the second game we were up 6-2 and cruising and they started serving Phil. I don’t think Phil was prepared for that as we switched sides down 8-6. The next play the little guy scooped Phil but hit out for us to save a point. We came back and it was a bit of a battle but we scored enough points to win it. Got a little reprieve from having to sideout all the time.
So today we play the veteran Portugues team of Maia and Brenha. They are a savvy ball control team that Phil and I beat last year here in the first round. I expect them to play well but hopefully I can sideout and Phil can be effective at the net as he was last year. That is our only game of the day today.
Our first match was at 7pm on Tuesday vs. the 4th Swiss team. Never seen them before so had no idea what to expect. I was happy to be playing that late though with all the travel and time change stuff. Got a good warmup in and proceeded to thump them. Scores were 12 and 15 and if I had been more focused it would have been even worse. I think they might have been a bit nervous as well playing in front of the home crowd on center court in the World Champs. It was certainly to our advantage.
Our second pool play game was against the 3rd Netherlands team that beat Jake and Rosy in pool play in Berlin. We came out a bit sluggish. My sideout game was not top notch and Phil was still asleep. I gave up 3 points in a row to start the game but steadied out after that. Phil missed 80% of his serves trying to jump serve in the rarified air here in Gstaad. I dug a lot of balls but Phil’s transition setting was terrrrible and even when I did get a good set I was terrible. Led to a 23-21 loss in the first game. We picked it up after that and won 21-15 and 15-7. Phil started floating and going and we scored a ton of points on blocks, digs, and errors.
Our last game we played transplanted brasilians in the Georgia team. We won in 2 games with scores around 15 and 18. They were serving me in the first and I was siding out well. In the second game we were up 6-2 and cruising and they started serving Phil. I don’t think Phil was prepared for that as we switched sides down 8-6. The next play the little guy scooped Phil but hit out for us to save a point. We came back and it was a bit of a battle but we scored enough points to win it. Got a little reprieve from having to sideout all the time.
So today we play the veteran Portugues team of Maia and Brenha. They are a savvy ball control team that Phil and I beat last year here in the first round. I expect them to play well but hopefully I can sideout and Phil can be effective at the net as he was last year. That is our only game of the day today.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Link to Switzerland Results, Webcam, Photos
The following is copied from Todd's Web Page (http://ToddJRogers.Com) -
Todd & Phil are now in Gstaad, Switzerland for the FIVB
SWATCH-FIVB World Championships held 24-29 July
(5966 miles, 9602 km from home)
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