FIVB Cancun Hub: All seven USA teams ousted on a tough Sunday

It was a dismal Sunday for Americans in Mexico at the first of three FIVB four-star tournaments at the Cancun Hub. All seven remaining USA teams were eliminated and ended up in either ninth or 17^th place.

April Ross and Alix Klineman, Emily Stockman and Kelley Kolinske, Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena, Taylor Crabb and Jake Gibb, and Trevor Crabb and Tri Bourne finished ninth, falling in the second elimination round.

Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat and Chaim Schalk and Theo Brunner finished 17^th, losing in the first round of playoffs.

With the women’s playoffs scheduled first, Walsh Jennings and Sweat lost to No. 16 Karla Borger and Julia Sude of Germany (21-18, 16-21, 15-11).  The 17^th-place finish is worth 320 points and will not enhance the Olympic points ranking for Walsh Jennings and Sweat, who are currently in second place behind Ross and Klineman.

Speaking of which, top-seeded Ross and Klineman lost to second-seeded Australians Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho. In case you’re wondering how the two top-seeded teams met in the second round, the FIVB randomly assigns playoff berths. Yup, randomly. The Australians’ serving was too much for the Americans in a 29-27, 21-15 victory.

The Olympic rankings points are a non-factor for Ross and Klineman, who have mathematically clinched one of the two USA Olympic berths. They have 9,080 points.

An hour later, Stockman and Kolinske fell to No. 6 Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina of Russia (21-15, 21-16). Stockman and Kolinske had previously defeated No. 29 Chiyo Suzuki and Yurika Sakuguchi of Japan in the first round (21-17, 23-21).

Stockman and Kolinske will replace their 360-point finish with 400 points from their previous FIVB appearance in Doha to reach 6,360. They still trail Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes, who did not make it out of the qualifier, by 360 points.

The men began the playoff run with good reason to be optimistic. Dalhausser and Lucena defeated Brazil’s Alison Cerutti and Alvaro Filho (12-21, 21-16, 15-7) and Crabb and Gibb had defeated the Netherland’s Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen (21-19, 21-17). Bourne and Crabb had earned the bye in Saturday’s pool play.

But the Americans were matched up with two of the toughest teams in the draw. Dalhausser and Lucena draw top-seeded Christian Sorum and Anders Mol of Norway. Cancun is Mol’s first tournament back following a hip injury sustained last year. 

Mol showed no signs of adversity, jump serving and blocking in fine form. The Norwegians defeated the Americans 21-15, 15-12, 15-12.

Dalhausser and Lucena will drop their 240-point Espinho Olympic result, adding 120 points. Their 160-point improvement brings them to 6,560, 440 points behind Ta. Crabb and Gibb and 140 points ahead of Tr. Crabb and Bourne.

At nearly the same time, Brazilian qualifiers Gustavo Carvalhaes and Arthur Da Silva eliminated fourth-seeded Taylor Crabb and Gibb 22-20, 21-9.

Gibb and Taylor Crabb add a mere 40 points, dropping their 360-point Sydney finish for the 400-point Cancun Hub 1. Their new point total is 7,040, 440 ahead of Dalhausser and Lucena and 620 ahead of Bourne and Tr. Crabb.

The last Americans to fall were Bourne and Trevor Crabb, who drew No. 9 Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner of the Czech Republic. Perusic and Schweiner are the hottest team of 2021, winning the four-star in Doha with tough serving and exemplary ball control. Bourne and Crabb fell 21-18, 21-12.

Crabb and Bourne will also make minor improvements in their Olympic rankings totals, dropping their 320 point Doha finish for the 400-point Cancun finish. Their new tally of 6,420 points leaves them in third in the Olympic race.

Eight women’s and eight men’s teams remain in medal contention Monday. The women’s matchups feature two intra-country matchups for Canada and Brazil:

No. 2 Clancy and Artacho of Australia vs. Chantal Laboureur and No. 20 Cinja Tillmann of Germany
No. 17 Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada vs. No. 4 Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan of Canada
No. 3 Agatha Bednarczuk and Eduarda Duda Lisboa of Brazil vs. No. 6 Makroguzova and Kholomina of Russia
No. 9 Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima of Brazil vs. No. 10 Ana Patricia Silva and Rebecca Cavalcanti of Brazil

Monday’s men’s matchups includes two qualifier teams:

No. 1 Mol and Sorum of Norway vs. No. 28 Carvalhaes and Da Silva of Brazil
No. 10 Perusic and Schweiner of the Czech Republic vs. No. 16 Ilya Leshukov and Konstantin Semenov of Russia
No. 17 Cherif Samba and Ahmed Tijan of Qatar vs. No. 7 Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi of Italy
No. 23 Martin Ermacora and Moritz Pristauz-Telsnigg of Austria vs. No. 11 Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins of Latvia

FIVB Cancun matches can be seen on FIVB YouTube

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Sunday’s results, courtesy of BVBinfo.com
MEN
Pool A, Round 2
Anders Mol/Christian Sorum Norway (1) def. Ilya Leshukov/Konstantin Semenov Russia (16) 21-16, 21-18 (0:39)
Cherif Samba/Ahmed Tijan Qatar (17) def. Miguel Sarabia/Raymond Stephens Mexico (32) 21-13, 21-10 (0:28)
Pool B, Round 2
Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai Italy (15) def. Theo Brunner/Chaim Schalk USA (31, Q17) 21-18, 21-19 (0:36)
Alison Cerutti/Alvaro Filho Brazil (2) def. Yannick Harms/Julius Thole Germany (18) 21-17, 19-21, 15-9 (0:54)
Pool C, Round 2
Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Oleg Stoyanovskiy Russia (3) def. Andre Loyola/George Wanderley Brazil (14) 21-12, 23-21 (0:37)
Samuele Cottafava/Jakob Windisch Italy (30, Q14) def. Grant O’Gorman/Ben Saxton Canada (19) 21-18, 21-11 (0:33)
Pool D, Round 2
Yves Haussener/Quentin Metral Switzerland (29, Q13) def. Nikita Liamin/Taras Myskiv Russia (20) 15-21, 21-18, 19-17 (0:50)
Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb USA (4) def. Mirco Gerson/Adrian Heidrich Switzerland (13) 21-18, 21-19 (0:43)
Pool E, Round 2
Gustavo “Guto” Carvalhaes/Arthur Da Silva Brazil (28, Q12) def. Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena USA (12) 16-21, 21-19, 15-8 (0:54)
Nils Ehlers/Lars Fluggen Germany (5) def. Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak Poland (21) 16-21, 21-15, 15-13 (0:58)
Pool F, Round 2
Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb USA (22) def. Evandro Goncalves/Bruno Oscar Schmidt Brazil (6) 16-21, 21-16, 15-11 (0:56)
Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins Latvia (11) def. Mathias Berntsen/Hendrik Mol Norway (27, Q10) 21-15, 18-21, 15-12 (0:47)
Pool G, Round 2
Martin Ermacora/Moritz Pristauz-Telsnigg Austria (23, Q2) def. Adrian Carambula/Enrico Rossi Italy (7) 25-23, 21-23, 15-10 (1:01)
Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner Czech Republic (10) def. Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen Mexico (26) 24-26, 21-19, 22-20 (1:09)
Pool H, Round 2
Florian Breer/Marco Krattiger Switzerland (25, Q8) def. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen Netherlands (9) 21-17, 22-24, 15-11 (0:54)
Kusti Nolvak/Mart Tiisaar Estonia (24, Q6) def. Josue Gaxiola/Jose Rubio Mexico (8) 21-11, 21-11 (0:30)

Winners bracket
Round 1
Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena USA (12) def. Alison Cerutti/Alvaro Filho Brazil (2) 12-21, 21-16, 15-7 (0:47)
Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb USA (4) def. Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen Netherlands (9) 21-19, 21-17 (0:35)
Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner Czech Republic (10) def. Nikita Liamin/Taras Myskiv Russia (20) 21-12, 16-21, 15-9 (0:43)
Ilya Leshukov/Konstantin Semenov Russia (16) def. Kusti Nolvak/Mart Tiisaar Estonia (24, Q6) 21-13, 21-17 (0:34)
Cherif Samba/Ahmed Tijan Qatar (17) def. Theo Brunner/Chaim Schalk USA (31, Q17) 21-16, 21-18 (0:35)
Adrian Carambula/Enrico Rossi Italy (7) def. Samuele Cottafava/Jakob Windisch Italy (30, Q14) 21-18, 21-11 (0:31)
Nils Ehlers/Lars Fluggen Germany (5) def. Evandro Goncalves/Bruno Oscar Schmidt Brazil (6) 21-19, 21-14 (0:37)
Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins Latvia (11) def. Andre Loyola/George Wanderley Brazil (14) 23-21, 21-13 (0:38)
Round 2
Anders Mol/Christian Sorum Norway (1) def. Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena USA (12) 21-15, 15-21, 15-12 (0:53)
Gustavo “Guto” Carvalhaes/Arthur Da Silva Brazil (28, Q12) def. Taylor Crabb/Jake Gibb USA (4) 22-20, 21-9 (0:34)
Ondrej Perusic/David Schweiner Czech Republic (10) def. Tri Bourne/Trevor Crabb USA (22) 21-18, 21-12 (0:36)
Ilya Leshukov/Konstantin Semenov Russia (16) def. Yves Haussener/Quentin Metral Switzerland (29, Q13) 21-17, 21-16 (0:29)
Cherif Samba/Ahmed Tijan Qatar (17) def. Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Oleg Stoyanovskiy Russia (3) 21-12, 19-21, 15-10 (0:43)
Adrian Carambula/Enrico Rossi Italy (7) def. Florian Breer/Marco Krattiger Switzerland (25, Q8) 21-18, 23-21 (0:40)
Martin Ermacora/Moritz Pristauz-Telsnigg Austria (23, Q2) def. Nils Ehlers/Lars Fluggen Germany (5) 21-17, 23-21 (0:40)
Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins Latvia (11) def. Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai Italy (15) 17-21, 21-19, 15-13 (0:49)

WOMEN
Winners bracket
Round 1
Taliqua Clancy/Mariafe Artacho Australia (2) def. Paula Soria/Maria Carro Spain (25, Q6) 21-19, 21-19 (0:41)
Chantal Laboureur/Cinja Tillmann Germany (20) def. Miki Ishii/Megumi Murakami Japan (24) 21-12, 21-17 (0:34)
Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson Canada (17) def. Katharina Schutzenhofer/Lena Plesiutschnig Austria (19) 21-14, 22-20 (0:41)
Karla Borger/Julia Sude Germany (16) def. Brooke Sweat/Kerri Walsh Jennings USA (14) 21-18, 16-21, 15-11 (0:53)
Lidiannis Echeverria/Yanisleidis Sanchez Cuba (28, Q12) def. Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink Netherlands (18) 21-19, 21-17 (0:35)
Emily Stockman/Kelley Kolinske USA (12) def. Chiyo Suzuki/Yurika Sakaguchi Japan (29, Q13) 21-17, 23-21 (0:41)
Vasiliki Arvaniti/Penny Karagkouni Greece (27, Q8) def. Kim Behrens/Sandra Ittlinger Germany (23, Q2) 13-21, 21-17, 15-10 (0:48)
Ana Patricia Silva/Rebecca Cavalcanti Brazil (10) def. Kinga Wojtasik/Katarzyna Kociolek Poland (22) 21-19, 16-21, 15-6 (0:43)
Round 2
Taliqua Clancy/Mariafe Artacho Australia (2) def. Alix Klineman/April Ross USA (1) 29-27, 21-15 (0:44)
Chantal Laboureur/Cinja Tillmann Germany (20) def. Tanja Huberli/Nina Betschart Switzerland (5) 16-21, 23-21, 16-14 (0:50)
Heather Bansley/Brandie Wilkerson Canada (17) def. Margareta Kozuch/Laura Ludwig Germany (7) 20-22, 21-15, 22-20 (1:02)
Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan Canada (4) def. Karla Borger/Julia Sude Germany (16) 21-18, 16-21, 15-12 (0:50)
Agatha Bednarczuk/Eduarda “Duda” Lisboa Brazil (3) def. Lidiannis Echeverria/Yanisleidis Sanchez Cuba (28, Q12) 21-13, 21-10 (0:27)
Nadezda Makroguzova/Svetlana Kholomina Russia (6) def. Emily Stockman/Kelley Kolinske USA (12) 21-15, 21-16 (0:33)
Talita Antunes/Taiana Lima Brazil (9) def. Vasiliki Arvaniti/Penny Karagkouni Greece (27, Q8) 21-14, 15-21, 15-12 (0:47)
Ana Patricia Silva/Rebecca Cavalcanti Brazil (10) def. Mailen Deliz/Leila Martinez Cuba (31, Q19) 21-18, 19-21, 15-10 (0:51)

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