Ross/Walsh take gold, Dalhausser/Lucena bronze in Cincinnati - Articles

The top U.S. Olympic contenders medaled in Olympic qualifier competition at the FIVB Cincinnati event. On the women’s side, Kerri Walsh-Jennings and April Ross brought gold medals home, while Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena finished with bronze. For the women, the morning’s semifinals were relatively routine. No. 1 seed Ross/Walsh-Jennings sent No. 4 Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez of Spain to the bronze match by a 21-14, 21-16 score. In the second semifinal, No. 13 Chen Xue/Xinyi Xia of China continued their cinderella run through the tournament, overcoming No. 11 Jantine evan der Vlist/Sophie van Gestel of the Netherlands 21-19, 21-17. In the battle for the Bronze, Baquerizo/Fernandez handled van der Vlist/van Gestel in straight sets 21-17, 21-18. Baquerizo are currently ranked 13th with 4,430 points. Cincinnati will replace their 12th lowest finish of 90 points/player with 200 points/player, increasing their score 220 points to 4,650 points. In the gold medal final, upstart Xue/Xia fought Ross/Walsh –Jennings blow-for-blow, and eventually got a couple of points to win game 1 22-20. Ross/Walsh-Jennings went on a tear to reach a 14-6 lead, but the Chinese scored 7 straight to close to 14-13. Ross then took control, scoring 6 straight points including three aces. After a Chinese sideout, Ross closed the second game 21-14 with a lob dig. Game three was relatively tight all the way through, with the U.S. nosing slightly ahead. With the U.S. up 13-10, China made a three point run including an ace by Xue. Xue’s subsequent serve was long, giving the U.S. its first match point. The teams...

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