Special Event: Rio 2016 Olympics - Volleyball
August 6, 2016 10:34 PM - Subscribe

2016 Summer Olympics volleyball discussion, we haz it!
posted by taz (14 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Okay, I'm surprised at how I got into this last night. Like up past midnight watching it. Hoo boy, do the commentators ever love Kerri Walsh Jennings--but with good reason. Watching them kick ass was great.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:38 AM on August 7, 2016 [1 favorite]


In 2012, Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor were unstoppable on the pitch. Walsh was five and six weeks pregnant with her third child while she was playing.

At 37, she's the oldest beach volleyball player in the Olympics this year.

She and Ross did well in the Olympic qualification rounds, although they lost to Brazil in the Hamburg series. So that match should be intense. They're playing China tonight.
posted by zarq at 7:42 AM on August 8, 2016


Announcers have said that Walsh Jennings has never lost an Olympic match.

In the middle of the second set the Chinese team inexplicably fell apart. The Americans won the second set with an astonishing 12 pt lead, against a team that should have been more of a challenge.
posted by zarq at 8:36 PM on August 8, 2016


I've always had a soft spot for beach volleyball, largely thanks to Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings. They've been such a dominant duo for over 10 years.

Jennings is amazing to watch, and I have enjoyed seeing Ross settle into a rhythm with her. I hope it's enough--they've got some serious matches yet to come.
posted by PearlRose at 9:05 PM on August 8, 2016


Enjoyed watching the Canadian upset of home-turf brazilians on beach today.

Question for those in-the-know - what is the tactical defense against a "high line shot"?

Is it just a question of guessing and peeling the block?
posted by cacofonie at 11:52 AM on August 9, 2016


Caught the end of the USA-Switzerland beach volleyball match tonight. What a nail-biter... and the poor Swiss player that landed on her neck!

The other US Women's team is out. It's a solid field this year, and the next round will be tough.
posted by PearlRose at 8:36 PM on August 10, 2016


It's a pretty good year for Canada in volleyball! Bansley and Pavan are awe-inspiring. I'm really hoping they end up facing the USA team, it'd be a great one to watch. Too bad they'll have to beat the other Canadian team first.
posted by randomnity at 10:14 AM on August 12, 2016


I'm just tuning in to the women's beach volleyball now - they have to wear their bikinis over their long suits? That's... arrgh.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:34 PM on August 12, 2016


They don't actually have to wear the bikinis at all anymore, anybody that does is doing so because they want to.
posted by Justinian at 11:17 PM on August 12, 2016


The Swiss vs Brazil women's beach game was incredible. The Swiss had 3 match points and the Brazil team came back and won.
posted by Justinian at 2:14 PM on August 14, 2016


To build off of Justinian's clarification, In March 2012, the International Volleyball Federation announced that women players could wear shorts, tank tops and/or sleeved, midriff-concealing tops instead of bikinis. This brought them in line with what men playing the sport are allowed to wear. Anyone who continues to wear a bikini on the pitch at the Olympics is doing so because they want to, not because they have to.

The only requirement is that everyone on the team must wear the same uniform.

In beach volleyball, men have one uniform option: A tank top and shorts. "...women, on the other hand, can choose from bikinis, one pieces, long-sleeved options, short-sleeved options, as well as tank tops and shorts."
posted by zarq at 11:03 AM on August 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


Also, if anyone missed last night's game against Australia, Walsh Jennings made a really cool save in the first set, where she ran under the net and then out of bounds to hit a ball back to Ross that would have meant a point for Australia. She then ran back around and took her proper place at the net to block a spike for the point. It was insane.
posted by zarq at 11:10 AM on August 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


Germany sure dominated Brazil for women's gold.
posted by rhizome at 1:26 AM on August 18, 2016


Sorry USA, but that (men's semifinal) was a pretty amazing comeback from Italy!
posted by progosk at 12:34 PM on August 19, 2016


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