Manhattan Beach Open

The weather could not have been better for the Wimbledon of Beach Volleyball, the Manhattan Beach Open. Sunny skies, a slight breeze, and temperatures in the mid-70s were consistent on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In my opinion....perfect playing conditions.

Brooke and I finished 5th place. We were knocking down that door of the final four, but came up short. We did have the major upset of the weekend when we took down the number 2 seed of the tournament, Elaine Youngs and Nicole Branagh, in the 3rd round of the winner's bracket. We then got our chance at a rematch of the Chicago Final with Jenny and Annett, but came up short again. We were eliminated from the tournament by Rachel and Tyra, but we did not go down without a fight.

Our tournament started against the 26th seeds of the tournament, Beth Van Fleet and Suzanna Manole. We were really off in game one and barely snuck out the win. We were down 13-8 and had to fight our way back. We ended up winning that game 21-19. Game 2 we were back to our normal selves and won 21-14.

Our next match was against Barbra Fontana and Alicia Polzin. In Chicago, we had a knock down, dragged out battle with them. We came into this match very prepared. We executed our game plan and won 21-12, 21-15.

Then came our big match against EY and Nicole. We played in the stadium which was packed for a Friday. Usually the stands are empty because people are still at work. We got crushed in game one, 13-21. We were down big in game two, 14-18 and the EY/Nicole crowd was cheering "3 more points!" All of a sudden we went on a scoring rampage. I had 2 let serves that just rolled over the net for aces. I know from being on the recipient end of those serves just how frustrating it can be. There just isn't any way to defend it. It goes one of two ways: either into the net for an error by the server, or flips over the net for an ace. I was lucky for 2 aces. We got into a groove and scored points when we needed them. We came from behind to win 24-22 pushing a game 3. We continued aggressively with Brooke making spectacular defensive plays and then frustrating them with her varied shots. I did my best to put up a good block and Brooke took over behind me. Our sideout game was efficient and we were able to score points. We took the final side switch up 14-11. A thought of upsetting the #2 team on tour started to enter my mind, but I pushed it away immediately. I learned something from Chicago! We both focused for that last point and won 15-11. Then we allowed it to sink in.

This win was huge for us. It was validation that Chicago was no fluke. We know we are capable of beating the top teams, but now its a matter of pulling out a few big wins in a single tournament in order to get to the Final Four.

That win secured a 5th place finish and we were so excited to get a rematch with Jenny and Nettie. We would face them at 8AM on Saturday morning.

Things did not go our way in the first game. We had too many unforced errors and couldn't find a way to make up for it. Game 2 was different. We put up a fight, but couldn't make it happen for us. We lost 19-21. That was our first loss of the tournament, so we still had another shot.

Our elimination match was against Rachel and Tyra. We played really well in this match. The difference came down to a point here and a point there. We used up our luck with the let serves and this time a big one went against us. Tyra had a big jump serve that flipped over on our side for a point. Early in the match she got another ace down my sideline. It is hard to say if those made a difference between winning and losing, but they very well could have. I guess to even things up a bit, we won a call from the referee that could have gone either way. Still, we lost 19-21, 22-24, in 5th place.

We are at the time of year where things are winding down. There are only 3 regular season tournament remaining. This year has gone by so incredibly fast. We will be on the road for the rest of the regular season in Boston, Coney Island, and then Cincinnati.

After the Cincinnati event, the top 12 players will be invited to play in Las Vegas for the Gods and Goddesses of the Beach. The players are invited based on their top 6 finishes of the season as pertaining to points. For example, the NBC events are double points which means that a 5th place at an NBC event will beat out a 3rd place finish at a cable television event. This means that the end of the season is very important. All the remaining events are on NBC, so this is the time when we want to peak.

After the Las Vegas event, there will be San Francisco where the top 8 teams will be invited to play. This tournament is a single elimination event. We are currently in 7th place, but will need to continue doing well in order to secure a spot for this event. The tour is more competitive than its ever been. It is exciting to be a part of it and in the middle of the action.

I hope your summer is everything you want it to be. Enjoy it while its here!

See you at the beach!

Angie