Congratulations to the team of the day in Rosarito, Sara Hughes & Kelley Kolinske of the United States. The Qualifier round at Elite 16 tournaments has some of the highest stakes in the sport. Failure to escape Elite 16 qualifiers leaves you with fewer points than a Futures tournament winner and no cash to cover your trip expenses. It can see you tumble out of the Elite 16 invitation list later in the summer, so success in the qualifiers was very important for everyone. That reality was on full display as 32 men’s and women’s pairs battled to some epic three setters.
Kolinske and Hughes had a pair of three-set victories of their own. The first was against Japan’s Miki Ishii & Sayaka Mizoe. The Japanese women know how to make serve receive tricky in the wind and can make rallies last forever with their defense. The Americans had to dig deep to win their opening match (21-15, 17-21, 15-12).
The second match was against last weekend’s impressive fourth place finishers Taiana Lima & Hegeile Almeida dos Santos. The score line (24-26, 22-20, 17-15) shows how hard fought this one was, but the rallies that made up the points were even more impressive. Both teams gave everything in this one. The first set saw Kolinske and Hughes in complete control before the Brazilians put together a late six point run to go from deep in the hole to earning the set’s first set point and eventually the set victory. The Americans fought off the disappointment to keep their eyes on the prize of Elite 16 main draw in sets that couldn’t have been closer.
Today they start in a pool full of Americans they know very well. They’ll battle Terese Cannon & Sarah Sponcil and Emily Day & April Ross in Pool B. The other team in that mix are number two seed Swiss Olympians Tanja Hüberli & Nina Brunner (formerly Betschart). That pressure packed pool is exactly what the Elite 16s was designed for, great matches from the opening serve and it is happening in every pool.
Photo by Volleyball World