OSTRAVA - Just a week after winning their first
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour gold in
Sochi, Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes snatched
their second.
The ninth-seeded American pair topped the
women’s podium at the J&T Banka Ostrava Beach
Open 2021 4-star on Sunday to crown a fabulous
fortnight during which they also qualified for
the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Third-seeded Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre of
Switzerland settled for the Ostrava silver,
their fourth runner-up finish on the World Tour.
The bronze went to 19th-seeded
Brazilians Barbara Seixas and Carol Solberg. It
was the first Tour medal for the two players
competing as a pair.
Sponcil and Claes stormed into the first set of
the final on a 4-1 run, only to allow the Swiss
to catch up at 8-8. A three in a row gave the
Americans a renewed 15-12 lead, a blow Heidrich
and Verge-Depre could no longer recover from.
Claes tipped the ball over the block to close
the set at 21-18. Early in the second set, Team
Slaes broke away with a 5-1 lead and never
looked back. It was once again Claes who
elegantly put the final touch to stop the clocks
at 21-15.
“They are a great team and I thought they played
really well. We just kind of took care of the
ball when we needed to. I think they made a lot
of good plays, but we didn’t really let it
affect us. We just tried to focus on us and what
we wanted to do on the court. So yes, we did
good...” Kelly Claes said upon receiving the
trophy.
“We’re on a good roll right now. We had our
first gold medal and qualified for the Olympics,
but we tried to put that on the back burner and
really focus on this tournament. And we came up
with a win. I have an amazing partner and the
Czech fans are amazing!” Sarah Sponcil added.
After a tight beginning, halfway through the
opening set of the bronze medal match against
Canada’s Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes,
Barbara and Carol gradually widened their lead
that reached six points at the end of the set,
with Barbara hammering the ball for the final
21-15. The second set followed pretty much the
same plot, only this time the 21-16 winner was
delivered by Carol with a monster block.
“First, we have to congratulate the Canadian
team. They are world champions and have been
having a great campaign,” Barbara said after the
victory. “So we knew we had to start our game
with 100 per cent attention and really focused
on what we had to do. We are really experienced
players, but new as a team, so I’m really happy
with this result and really proud of our team
and the work we’ve been doing.”
“For us, to be in the semifinals was so
important,” Carol added. “We really appreciate
being here. We were prepared for some really
cold weather in the Czech Republic, so I am so
happy that the sun came for us. The crowd is
amazing, the venue is beautiful and I’m so happy
to be here,” Carol added.
|