Today's volleyball recap

The dreary weather and intermittent downpours didn't stop us from going to watch the final women's beach volleyball match of USA v China this morning. We weren't sure if they would postpone due to the weather, but good thing we arrived on time, as games go on in all weather except lightning. They handed us ponchos at the gate, which were helpful, but of such poor quality that they had holes everywhere by the time we left. In any case, we saw China's #2 team defeat Brazil 2-0 for the bronze medal. The enthusiasm of the crowd was tempered by the lousy weather, but the game was still exciting to watch. The game finished in 45 mins and there was an hour wait before the gold medal match. By the time that game started, it was a full house despite the rain. Great turnout by Americans too. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh were spot-on. They are a great team and came into the match with a 107-game winning streak. They extended that to 108 today with their win over China's #1 team. The games were very close, but USA played extremely well and displayed their dominance in the sport. I was especially impressed with their sportsmanship upon winning, making sure to hug and thank their opponents, officials, etc. Walsh seemed especially emotional. This will probably be the last Olympics for both and they went out with a bang. I would also like to commend the Chinese beach volleyball program for developing Olympic champions in the span of 4 years. It was a great game to watch. OW and I cheered for our respective favorites and had a good time even though we came out pretty drenched.

On the bus ride back from Beach Volleyball, we saw the beginning of the women's USA v Cuba volleyball semifinal match. It looked like they had the upper hand, and indeed, once we got home, the final score (3-0 USA) confirmed.

Then, just a couple of hours ago, we watched on TV with bated breath, the China v Brazil semifinal women's indoor volleyball match. The first set was close, with the teams trading 1-point leads. Brazil's offense was highly effective, but China's defense rallied time after time. However, Brazil won the first set 27-25. In the second set, Brazil seemed like a stronger team,
with many more successful blocks and fierce attacks. Although China rallied towards the end of the set, they lost the third set point at 24-22 on a service error, which I think was irreversibly devastating to the team's morale. The third game was unfortunatley not close at all, with China
making many mistakes and not capitalizing on dig opportunities. Brazil opened a wide lead and maintained it to take the third and final set 25-12. I'm hugely disappointed to not see China in the finals but am looking forward to attending the gold medal match between USA and Brazil on Friday. It will also be interesting to see the outcome of the bronze medal China v Cuba rematch.

A lot of really good volleyball today, still more to come.