Samba-Tijan, upstarts Schoon-Stam win Volleyball World gold in Rosarito

Olympians Cherif Samba and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar, and Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam of the Netherlands — who came out of the qualifier and made an incredible run — won the gold medals Sunday at the Volleyball World Rosarito, Mexico, Elite 16.

Samba and Tijan, the bronze medalists in Tokyo, went 2-1 in pool play — losing their second match to last week’s tournament winners, Michael Bryl and Bartosz Losiak of Poland — but won when it mattered.

The top-seeded Qataris beat fifth-seeded Brazilians Andre Loyola and George Wanderly in the quarterfinals, pulling out a 21-18, 16-21, 15-12 victory. In the semifinals, they got revenge on the eighth-seeded Poles, beating Bryl and Losiak 21-17, 21-15. In the final, they swept Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuswen, the seventh seed from the Netherlands, 21-17, 21-15.

Schoon and Stam, seeded 13th, won two qualifier matches. In pool play, they upset fifth-seeded Australians Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy in three, beat 12th-seeded Mexicans Atenas Gutierrez and Maria Quintero in two, but then lost to fourth-seeded Canadians Melissa Humana-Parades and Sarah Pavan in two.

In the quarterinals, Schoon and Stam knocked out top-seeded Brazilians Duda Lisboa and Ana Patricia Silva 21-18, 12-21, 20-18. In the semifinal they ousted third-seeded Americans Kelly Claes and Betsi Flint 23-25, 22-20, 15-9. 

In the final, the Dutch pair blasted eighth-seeded Latvian Olympians Tina Graudina — the USC senior — and Anastasija Kravcenoka 21-14, 21-13. 

Three American pairs made it into the quarterfinals, including Claes and Flint, who lost in the bronze-medal match. 

Claes and Flint went 2-1 in pool play. They beat 11th-seeded Swiss Olympians Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre in two, sixth-seeded Brazilians Fernanda Alves and Maria Antonelli in two, and then lost to 14th-seeded Brazilians Talita Antunes and Rebecca Cavalcanti in two.

In the quarterfinals, Claes and Flint beat fourth-seeded Canadians Melissa Humana-Parades and Sarah Pavan 21-16, 21-18, but in the semifinals lost to the Dutch before losing again to Antunes and Cavalcanti 22-20, 21-19.

Third-seeded April Ross and Emily Day, who went 3-0 in pool play, were knocked out by Graudina and Kravcenoka 21-12, 24-22. In pool play, Ross and Day beat Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli and Nina Brunner in three, swept Americans Sara Hughes and Kelley Kolinske, and then beat another USA pair, Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil in two.

15th-seeded Hughes and  Kolinske won both their qualifier matches. In pool play, they beat fellow Cannon and Sponcil in two, lost to Ross and Day in two, and beat Brunner and Huberli in two.

Claes and Flint took home $10,000. Ross and Day and Hughes and Kolinske made $8,000, and Cannon and Sponcil made $6,000.

The men’s side was also tough on Americans. Chase Budinger and Troy Field won their first qualifier match and in the second round of the qualifier were bounced by compatriots Theo Brunner and Chaim Schalk.

In pool play, Brunner and Schalk went 1-2 and didn’t advance. Nor did Tri Bourne and Trevor Crabb, who also went 1-2 in pool play. Both those teams split $6,000.

The next Volleyball World Elite 16 is May 25-29 in Ostrava, Czech Republic. This week is the Future tournament in Coolangatta, Australia.

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VBM Staff