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Beach volleyball men advance, women lose

Gold-medal and consolation matches set for Monday

by Leila Hanaumi on September 13, 2009

After a windy and rainy day on the beaches of Pacific Green Bay on Sunday, America still has a shot at medaling in beach volleyball. The men are guaranteed to stand on the podium, while the women will have to fight for bronze during matches Monday. Dimitri Nikiforov and his and partner Mike Bruning opened the game with an ongoing rally that they won. Bruning wasted no time revving up as he spiked a hole after making a beautiful ace. Up to this point, U.S. had a steady, two-to-three point lead against Ukraine. Ukraine, however, began working their way around Bruning’s blocks and crawled their way up to a 20-20 tie. Both teams took their turns scoring points, and for the first time during the game, Ukraine grabbed the lead at 23-22. The U.S. immediately took the ball back but continued to tie until Bruning killed for a 28-26 win. The intense game didn’t scare coach Said Souikane. “I live for the pressure,” he said. “It’s how we grow as athletes and coaches.” After the first, prolonged set, the U.S. came back for a second victory. Bruning and Nikiforov seemed physically unable to allow the ball to touch the sand as they made unbelievable saves and read their opponents’ moves as if they were www.usdeaflympics.org articles. Ukraine, although the most challenging team Bruning and Nikiforov had faced yet, failed to endure the hits and jump serves delivered by the American duo. The U.S. men defeated Ukraine, 21-15. Unfortunately, the U.S. men are the only American team still eligible for a beach volleyball gold medal. Jessica Ensign and Nancy Moore weren’t able to avenge their loss to the same Ukraine team that defeated them, 2-0, Tuesday. Ensign and Moore proved a potential threat in their past two games, but their chemistry wasn’t on the sands Sunday. They allowed history to repeat as they lost to Ukraine, 2-0. “Today was the windiest day,” coach Lauren Mills said. “They lost control in the wind. I’m going to talk with them about passing and setting lower and serving against the wind” if the weather doesn’t improve for Ensign and Moore’s consolation game Monday. Mills added that Ukraine was simply a smart team. “We went from perfect weather in California to Taipei’s rain and wind. But we have to move on and focus on the consolation game,” Moore said. “We must get bronze!” The U.S. men compete against the other Ukrainian team for the gold at 4 p.m. Monday, and the women will battle it out for bronze against Lithuania at noon.
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