It is certainly wacky for a pro athlete in one sport to try to play another professional sport. But it has happened a few rare times in history (Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, etc.)

PictureSteve Nash can handle a ball with his hands or feet.
The Los Angeles Lakers guard had a ‘try out’ with elite Italian soccer team Inter Milan Tuesday in New Jersey as the team prepared for the first ever Guinness International Champions Cup. The  nine-day bracket-format tournament starts Wednesday in several U.S. cities and also features other top international teams including AC Milan, Chelsea FC, Everton, Juventus, LA Galaxy, Real Madrid and Valencia.

This story brings back all of the other great Athletes who tries to play more than one Sport. Michael Jordan playing Baseball or who can forget Bo Jackson playing 3 Sports?



“[The tryout] was kind of tongue-in-cheek,” Nash told For The Win. “The coach
was kind enough to let me get out there for a bit. They’re preparing for the season
and the Guinness Cup. It’s not ideal preparation to have a stranger walk on the
Sfield. They were really gracious and gave me the time of my life.”

Fortunately for Lakers fans, Steve Nash didn’t make the cut.

Nash, a part-owner of the MLS’ Vancouver Whitecaps, also sponsors an
annual charity soccer game in June to raise money for underprivileged children
.
Between those experiences and his practice with Inter Milan, he seems to be in
awe of the elite players he’s scrimmaged with.

“Their level of skill, athleticism, understanding of the game and speed of
thought and ability is incredibly honed and phenomenal to experience,” Nash
said.

The same could be said about the two-time NBA MVP on a basketball court,
although he hasn’t had much time on one this summer, spending most of his off
months rehabbing from an array of hamstring, hip and back injuries that plagued
him at the end of last season.

“I’m not 100 percent but I’m getting really close and getting better all the
time,” Nash said.  ”I’ve done a lot of work and feeling positive and
optimistic.”



He’ll return to a Lakers team that no longer has Dwight Howard and faces
injury questions with fellow aging stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. The
39-year-old Nash, who has two seasons remaining on his contract with the team,
seems to realize his window to win his first NBA title is closing.

“I definitely want to win a championship but it’s not going to define my
career,” Nash said. “If I get the opportunity that’ll be fantastic and it’s part
of the motivation to keep playing, but I also feel like there’s a lot of other
reward in playing.  I still enjoy being a teammate and competing against
the best players in the world.”

 
PictureYankees preparing for life without A-rod
The Detroit Tigers already acquired Jose Iglesias from the Red Sox to fill in during Jhonny Peralta's upcoming suspension. The Rangers are preparing for life without Nelson Cruz based on their targets. The Yankees are in the same boat with Alex Rodriguez. And according to Jeff Passan, there are several major league players the public doesn't know about that will soon be suspended, and those teams will be forced to react accordingly if it could jeopardize their playoff chances.

It seems like all baseball news has been overshadowed by the looming Biogenesis suspensions and the circus that is Alex Rodriguez‘s, Major League Baseball’s and the New York Yankees’ public feud. Indeed, as this week began it appeared as though today’s trade deadline would be a mere afterthought. Or, if not an afterthought, that it would be subservient to the Biogenesis drama, with teams looking to desperately cover for players they will lose to suspension.


Things have calmed down considerably in the past 24, hours, however.

For one thing, one of the teams that stood to be most adversely affected by
Biogenesis suspensions — the Tigers, who will almost certainly lose Jhonny
Peralta
— filled their imminent shortstop hole with Jose Iglesias from the Red Sox.
That, combined with the news that baseball is not likely to suspend Bartolo Colon
due to him already having been punished for taking the substances he received
from Biogenesis means that only one team currently in the playoff hunt stands to
lose a significant player. That being the Texas Rangers and Nelson Cruz, according
to multiple reports. Other players named in multiple reports include the Padres’
Everth Cabrera, whose team is not in contention, and Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli,
who is on the 60-day DL with a broken hand. Ryan Braun was suspended for the
remainder of the season, but with his team far from contention, it’s unlikely the Brewers
were going to do anything but sell anyways.


For another — and maybe I’m just imagining this — Major League Baseball
appears to be settling on Friday as D-Day in the Biogenesis mess. Last night
Jeff Passan of Yahoo! reported that the timeframe would be “within the next
72 hours”
— a report that was later confirmed by multiple sources — as opposed
to dropping their bomb at or around today’s 4 p.m. ET trade deadline. Maybe this
is a matter of MLB still having work to do before issuing suspensions. Maybe it’s
a matter of the league wanting to bury bad news on a Friday afternoon like politicians
so often do. But maybe — just maybe — it’s a matter of MLB appreciating that the trade
deadline chatter and commentary is pretty good for its brand and deciding to let
that stuff have the limelight today.


The addition of a second wild card in each league also could be depressing
trade activity, because teams are hesitant to sell while they still are in
contention. Teams still need to sell tickets for the stretch run, and
surrendering before August is no way to do that. Besides, there’s always the
chance that a club goes on a late-season run.


MLB commended Braun for taking responsibility for his actions and said it
wanted to resolve this issue, but otherwise has been publicly silent about the
Biogenesis suspensions. Rodriguez’s attorney, David Cornwell, said in a
radio interview this week that his client planned to fight the suspension.


“When the time comes and baseball does whatever it is going to do, then I
will sit down with Alex and talk to him about the process of the appeal, filing
the appeal and going in and presenting our best evidence that we have — and we
think we have good evidence — to defend his interest, to protect him. That’s
what I expect to be doing,” Cornwell told Stephen A. Smith, who was hosting the
Michael Kay Show.


Rodriguez will always dominate the news, especially in New York. A-Rod would
lead New York sports news for years even if he joined a religious sect that had
him swear off sports, public appearances and money. He’s always the story in
Gotham. But outside of that crazy media environment trades and playoff races
seem to have been thrust to the fore last night and today.


Maybe Major League Baseball will fall back on old bad-P.R. habits and drop
it’s bad news bombs after lunch today. But for now it seems pretty darn
refreshing that we can focus on what’s truly good about baseball than what is,
quite frankly, a major, major drag.


Biogenesis is the dark cloud hanging ominously over baseball that simply won't
go away, but with clarity will also come complications for many contenders. We may
get a good look at how those contenders plan on dealing with their complications in
the next 24 hours.

 

Minnesota Vikings Adrian Peterson has lofty goals, but none is loftier than Emmitt Smith's NFL career rushing record. The reigning league MVP said he expects to pass Smith during the 2017 season and even has a date in mind.

PictureAdrian Peterson is eyeing Emmitt Smith Rushing Record
Peterson, 28, rushed for 2,097 yards last season, eight yards fewer than Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105. His goal for this season is to reach 2,500 yards. 

As for Emmitt Smith's mark of 18,355 yards, Peterson told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that he can get there by Week 16 of the 2017 season, well ahead of his current pace of Week 4 of 2019. 

Peterson currently has 8,849 yards. By his estimate, he would need to average 120.3 yards per game over a 79-game span to collect the 9,507 yards needed. 

"Whoo. That's pushing it, huh? But hey, pushing it is the only way to do it. You know it," he told the Star-Tribune.

 

1. New England Patriots Hot Superfan Sara Brinsfield

Our #1 hottest and sexiest super fan Sara Brinsfield even brought her own helmet and jersey to the modeling shoot. That's a fan!

2. Dallas Cowboys Sexy Blonde Fan Caitlin O'Connor

Dallas cheerleaders may be hot, but we got something better. The smoking hot Caitlin O'Connor, representing for the legendary football team, Dallas Cowboys.

3. Green Bay Packers Fan Leianna Kai is Smoking Hot

The sexy favorite Leianna Kai returns, sporting the uniform of the 2011 NFL champs, the Green Bay Packers. You'll feel like you just won the Super Bowl.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers Sexy Fan Jeri Lee in Black & Yellow

Jeri Lee shows some black & yellow love in this sexy modeling shoot for the 2009 NFL Champions Pittsburgh Steelers!

5. New York Giants Hot Fan Gabby Jeanne - Big Apple Love

Kicking off a week of football love, the sexy Gabby Jeanne reps for the current 2012 NFL Champs NY Giants in a brand new hot photo shoot

 

Against all odds, a US team playing without their coach Jurgen Klinsmann, managed to defeat Panama after Brek Shea scored a momentous goal in the 69th minute.

PictureUS wins fifth CONCACAF Gold Cup title
he United States won its fifth CONCACAF Gold Cup title on Sunday, defeating Panama 1-0 in the final before a crowd of 57,920 at Soldier Field. Brek Shea scored the game-winning goal in the 68th minute, just seconds after entering the game as a substitute.

It also is the first international title as a coach for Jurgen Klinsmann, who won the 1990 World Cup and 1996 European Championship with Germany. Klinsmann was ousted for the match but it didn't seem to impact the game.

Kyle Beckerman was named the Man of the Match for his outstanding display in center midfield.


This was the 11th straight victory for the Americans, four more than their previous record, and they likely will leapfrog Mexico as the best team from CONCACAF when the next FIFA rankings come out Aug. 8.

So will the US winning streak continue? Tell us what you think in the comments below.


 

July 28, 2013 - US Players dominated the Asics World Series Cup Sunday afternoon in Long Beach, CA. Jennifer Kessy and April Ross came back from behind to defeat the top ranked Brazilians Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima in 3rd set tiebreaker. US Men's duo Casey Patterson and Jake Gibb dominated and defeated their Latvian opponents in two sets.

With a new twist on an old sport, a special four-team international
competition called the ASICS World Series Cup saw the United States defeat
Brazil in the women’s final and United States beat Latvia in the men’s final
Sunday.  With the week-long ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball
featuring the week-long $440,000 FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam that concluded
Saturday, the inaugural $100,000 ASICS World Series Cup featured two teams from
the USA in each gender playing in one semifinal along with one team each from
Brazil and Germany in the other women’s semi and in the other men’s semi one
each from Brazil and Latvia.


Winning the women’s ASICS World Series Cup was USA’s April Ross/Jennifer
Kessy while capturing the men’s ASICS World Series Cup was USA’s Jake Gibb/Casey
Patterson.


The winning teams in each gender will split a purse of $30,000, second place
will split $10,000 and the other teams in the first-time event will each split
$5,000.


The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour returned to the USA for the first
time since 2003 with the event being held for the first time in Long Beach the
purpose-built site located on the expansive glistening sands of Marina Green
Park. With the 2013 FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS, in the
record books, the special USA vs. the world ASICS World Series Cup was
nationally televised by NBC TV and the Universal Sports Network.


ASICS WORLD SERIES CUP FINALS

In the women’s nationally-televised ASICS
World Series Cup final, USA’s April Ross/Jennifer Kessy came from behind to
overcome Brazil’s Taiana Lima/Talita Antunes, 15-21, 21-18 and 17-15 in the
60-minute final.  Brazil never trailed in taking the first set rather
easily. In the second set, the USA fell behind again, 5-1 but scored six
straight to take a 6-5 lead. The USA led 15-11 but Brazil rallied and tied the
set at 16-16 but the USA scored five of the last seven points.


In the deciding third set of the women’s final, USA came out of the box to
take leads of 4-1 and 7-4 but Brazil rallied again to take leads of 8-7, 11-9,
12-10 before the USA closed out the set and won the match with a 7-3 run. With
the score tied at 15-15, Ross landed a cross-court kill off of Lima and Kessy
ended it with a cross court kill just away from the diving Antunes, but just
inside the sideline as the partisan packed house in Long Beach rose to their
feet once again like they did so many times during the match.


In the women’s final, USA’s Kessy, who was selected as the MVP of the match,
recorded 30 kills, 13 digs and had three aces while teammate Ross had 12 kills,
seven digs, two blocks and just two hitting errors. For Brazil, Antunes had 11
kills, five blocks, two aces and no hitting errors and her partner Lima had 17
kills, 14 digs and two aces.


After winning the three-set match, USA’s Ross said, “We got off to a slow
start, and that’s what I thought would happen. But then we got a couple of
points and got better throughout the end of the first set. I felt way better
going into the second set. I just served a bunch of aces, probably the most aces
in a match this year. That helped us a lot to get going. I don’t know if it
should, but this takes some of the sting out of losing the FIVB tournament.
After a loss it feels so good to have this extra opportunity to go out on a
win.”


In the men’s cup final, USA’s Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson finally broke open
what appeared to be a very close match to defeat Latvia’s Aleksandrs
Samoilovs/Janis Smedins in two sets, 22-20, 21-11 in 40 minutes. The match
reversed the outcome of FIVB World Tour gold medal match on May 26 in
Corrientes, Arg., won by the Latvians in two sets.


In the close first set, USA never trailed, there were four ties and Gibb
finished it with another crowd-inspiring block. Latvia scored first in the
second set and after going point for point USA took its first lead at 5-4 and
then went on a 10-2 run. During the run, Gibb had three straight blocks for
points at 13, 14, and 15 after having another block for point 11.


In the men’s final, USA’s Gibb, who was selected as the MVP of the match,
recorded nine kills, a game-high seven blocks and one serving ace while teammate
Patterson had 16 kills, seven digs, one block and one ace. For Latvia, Samoilovs
had 10 kills and six digs while Smedins had eight kills, three digs and four
blocks.


USA’s Gibb had high praise for his new teammate Patterson, saying after the
victory, “Casey has been playing insane. He’s new to the FIVB World Tour and he
is playing amazing. You also have to know that those guys (Latvia’s
Samoilovs/Smedins) are some of the best players in the world. So I don't think
they ever really lose confidence. We had a good game plan that our coach put
together and it worked.”


USA’s Patterson had equally as strong comments regarding Gibb, saying, “Jake
was playing the net so well today that there were times when I just wanted to
serve, sit down in a chair and watch him just block another one.”

#worldseriescup #longbeach #FIVB #WSOBV #JakeGibb #CaseyPatt #AprilRoss #JenniferKessy
 

Sean Rosenthal and Phil Dalhausser give brilliant show of dominance at FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam Final on Saturday July 27. This is why we love Beach Volleyball! #FIVB #WSOBV #LongBeach

 

USA's Sean Rosenthal and Phil Dalhausser got the job done Friday in winning three matches including their semifinal over compatriots Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson to move to the gold medal match of the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam.

PictureUSA's Sean Rosenthal and Phil Dalhausser celebrate
Surprise, surprise, a funny thing happened on the way to the men’s medal matches Friday as beach volleyball duos from Spain and the United States emerged from semifinal wins to take center stage during Saturday’s gold medal finale at the $440,000 FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS, double-gender tournament. The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time in a decade. Meeting in Saturday’s gold medal match will be USA’S fourth-seeded Sean Rosenthal/Phil Dalhausser meeting Spain’s 14th-seeded Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira.



The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time in a decade. Saturday’s schedule will include the men’s bronze and gold medal matches along with the women’s semifinals of the special ASICS World Series Cup which will feature two teams from the USA in one semifinal along with teams from Brazil and Germany in the other. The two winners will meet in the cup final on Sunday. The women’s portion of the event ended Friday with an all-Brazilian gold medal match won in three sets and 61 minutesby Taiana Lima/Talita Antunes over sisters Maria Clara Salgado/Carolina Salgado.

The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time since 2003. With the event being held for the first time in Long Beach the purpose-built site is located on the expansive glistening sands of Marina Green Park on East Lakeshore Drive. Matches at the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS, are scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. Saturday with the men’s bronze medal match of the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam at 11:00 a.m. and the men’s gold medal grand slam match closing the day’s competition at 2:00 p.m.

In the special USA vs. the world ASICS World Series Cup, the women’s semifinals will be played at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Saturday. While the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS concludes on Saturday, The ASICS World Series Cup on Sunday, the event finishes with the men’s semifinals at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., the women’s final at 1:30 p.m. and the men’s final at 3:00 p.m. General admission is free to the event. VIP tickets are on sale through the event website at www.wsobv.com.

SEMIFINALS


Battling through three matches on Friday, in the first semifinal Friday afternoon, Spain’s 14th-seeded Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira came from behind to upset Italy’s sixth-seeded Olympians Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo in three long sets, 24-26, 21-19, 15-13 in 61 minutes.

In the battle of America in the final semifinal, USA’s fourth-seeded Sean Rosenthal/Phil Dalhausser intensely battled to upset their USA top-seeded compatriots Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson in two tough sets, 21-16, 21-19 in 55 minutes. While it looked like the dramatic match might go three sets with the score tied at 19-19, Dalhausser made sure it ended by scoring his team’s final two points, first on a voracious block and the closer on a powerful service ace. In the semi, Dalhausser had three aces and four blocks while teammate Rosenthal recorded 23 kills and 15 digs.

After their crowd-pleasing victory, USA’s Rosenthal said, “It has been a battle, we played three matches today so that bring on the fatigue but we do get boost of adrenaline knowing that we are playing at home in front of everyone. It was a good match with Jake and Casey, well played by both sides it just happened that we made some key plays at the end to close out each set. It happens in volleyball, you just have to go in knowing that it’s only another match. They are having a great season and we are having a pretty good one too.”

BRONZE MEDAL MATCHUP


In Saturday’s 11 a.m. FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam bronze medal match it will be USA’s Gibb/Patterson playing against Italy’s Nicolai/Lupo. All veteran players, Gibb/Patterson are a new team this season.
QUARTERFINALS
In the second of three matches for Friday’s winning teams, USA’s Rosenthal/Dalhausser held on to knock off Brazil’s fifth-seeded 2011 FIVB World Champions Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego, 22-20, 14-21, 15-9 in 53 minutes; USA’s Gibb/ Patterson beat Norway’s 18th-seeded Iver Horrem/Geir Eithun, 21-13, 21-17 in 36 minutes; Italy’s Nicolai/Lupo stood their ground against Latvia’s third-seeded Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins to win in three sets, 21-17, 19-21, 16-14 in 50 minutes and Spain’s gritty Herrera/ Gavira fought and scrapped their way past Italy’s 32nd-seeded Alex Ranghieri/Andrea Tomatis, 21-12, 17-21, 15-10 in 48 minutes

ROUND OF 16 RESULTS


Friday’s long day began early with the men’s round of 16 that heated up the sand for the day’s competition with the losing teams being eliminated and credited with official ninth-place finishes.

In the boiling action, in the first four matches of the round, USA’s Gibb/Patterson stopped Germany’s 13th-seeded Mischa Urbatzka/Markus Bockermann, 21-12, 21-15 in 34 minutes;  Norway’s Horrem/ Eithun upset Austria’s eighth-seeded Robin Seidl/Alexander Huber, 21-18, 13-21, 20-18 in 61 minutes; Brazil’s Alison/Rego eliminated USA’s 11th-seeded Todd Rogers/Ryan Doherty, 21-9, 21-15 in 31 minutes and USA’s Rosenthal/Dalhausser charged past Canada’s 12th-seeded Chaim Schalk/Ben Saxton, 21-13, 21-15 in 38 minutes.

The second four matches in the round of 16, Latvia’s Samoilovs/ Smedins defeated Brazil’s seventh-seeded Vitor Felipe/Evandro Goncalves, 22-20, 21-15 in 43 minutes; Italy’s Nicolai/ Lupo toppled Brazil’s ninth-seeded Edson Barros/Alvaro Filho, 21-14, 12-21, 16-14 in 46 minutes; Italy’s Ranghieri/Tomatis stunned Australia’s 10th-seeded Christopher McHugh/Isaac Kapa, 16-21, 23-21, 18-16 in 56 minutes and Spain’s Herrera/Gavira knocked out Brazil’s second-seeded 2013 FIVB World Tour point leaders Pedro Salgado/Bruno Schmidt.

The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS is the showcase part of the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball, a SoCal beach festival that includes 4-person and 6-person recreational events, a youth tournament and nightly music concerts. Also part of the event is the inaugural ASICS World Series Cup featuring two teams in each gender from the USA against two international teams with the finals next Sunday. In addition to the international live FIVB telecasts, the event also includes 23 hours of live or same-day telecasts split between NBC Sports Network, Universal Network and NBC TV Network.

 

Brazil captured both the Gold and Silver medals Friday afternoon at the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam. Earning the gold medal was Brazil’s Taiana Lima and teammate Talita Antunes.

PictureBrazil's Taiana Lima and Talita Antunes celebrate winning Gold Medal at WSOBV
Long Beach, Calif., USA, July 26, 2013—Proving once again their overall superiority in the blossoming sport of beach volleyball, women’s tandems from Brazil captured both the gold and silver medals Friday afternoon and Germany secured the bronze as the women’s tournament finished at the $440,000  FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam double-gender tournament, presented by ASICS. Earning the gold medal was Brazil’s Taiana Lima/Talita Antunes while the silver medal went to Brazil’s Maria Clara Salgado/Carolina Salgado and Germany’s Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler earned the bronze medal.



The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time in a decade. Saturday’s schedule will include the men’s bronze and gold medal matches along with the women’s semifinals of the special ASICS World Series Cup which will feature two teams from the USA in one semifinal along with teams from Brazil and Germany in the other. The two winners will meet in the cup final on Sunday.

The gold medal teams in each gender in the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam will each split $33,000, the silver $22,000, the bronze $16,500 and fourth place $12,900.

The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time since 2003. With the event being held for the first time in Long Beach the purpose-built site is located on the expansive glistening sands of Marina Green Park on East Lakeshore Drive. Matches at the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS, are scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. Saturday with the men’s bronze medal match of the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam at 11:00 a.m. and the men’s gold medal grand slam match closing the day’s competition at 2:00 p.m.

In the special USA vs. the world ASICS World Series Cup, the women’s semifinals will be played at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Saturday. While the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS concludes on Saturday, The ASICS World Series Cup on Sunday, the event finishes with the men’s semifinals at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., the women’s final at 1:30 p.m. and the men’s final at 3:00 p.m. General admission is free to the event. VIP tickets are on sale through the event website at www.wsobv.com.

GOLD MEDAL MATCH
In another one of those battles for the ages between veteran compatriots who are very familiar with each other even though they were meeting for only the fourth time on the FIVB World Tour, Brazil’s No. 2-seeded Lima/Antunes gutted out their fourth consecutive three-set match in the tournament to slip past Brazil’s No. 4-seeded sisters Maria Clara Salgado/Carolina Salgado, 20-22, 21-15, 15-13 in the 61-minute women’s finale.

As could easily be expected, all three sets were close, especially the first and third that could have gone either way but Brazil’s Lima/Antunes pulled it out with grit and determination and just enough good breaks to move their record as a team with Brazil’s Salgado sisters to 4-1. Almost saving the best for last, the 61-minute gold medal match was the longest women’s match of the tournament.

Said an exhausted Antunes following the colorful awarding ceremony, “This was a great FIVB tournament, I think we played really well and it was wonderful playing in America. When it comes down to it we are just trying to do our best at all times. The championship was a great match, we played really well in this gold medal match, much better than we have been playing in the matches leading up to this one. The Salgado sisters played really well too in this match we have nothing but respect for them.”

In just their eighth FIVB international tournament playing together, Brazil’s Lima/Antunes earned their fourth gold medal of the 2013 FIVB World Tour and fifth final four tournament finish.  Both veteran players, this event was Lima’s eighth FIVB World Tour/Open final four and fourth gold medal. For Antunes, Long Beach was her 58th career final four and here 17th gold medal.

BRONZE MEDAL MATCH
In another exciting match in a tournament filled with close contests, Germany’s No. 7-seeded Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler held off a great effort by USA’s No. 15-seeded Emily Day/Summer Ross to earn the bronze medal Friday afternoon in straight sets, 21-18, 25-23 in 39 minutes.  In the first meeting between the two teams, it was the third bronze medal of the 2013 FIVB World Tour for Germany’s veteran Holtwick/Semmler and for the young Americans it was the first final four for USA’s Day/Ross as there string of upsets ended Friday with close losses in both the bronze medal match and the semifinals.

For Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler, this was their 73rd FIVB international tournament together, their fifth bronze medal and 11th final four placement. Just playing their fourth FIVB international event as a team, this was the first final four finish for USA’s Day, 25 and Ross, 20. Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler finish the tournament with a 6-2 record for the week while USA’s Day/Ross enjoyed playing in their home country, leaving Long Beach with a 5-3 mark that included three losses to Brazilian gold medal winners Lima/Antunes.

SEMIFINALS
Brazil’s Salgado sisters started things off in the first semifinal Friday morning with an impressive two-set victory over Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler, 21-15, 21-12 in 38 minutes. The Salgados were in control in both sets playing near error-free. With the victory, Brazil’s Maria Clara Salgado/Carolina Salgado increased their career record against Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler to 7-1.

In the second semifinal Brazil’s Lima/Antunes hand their hands full with USA’s Day/Ross but finally prevailed in three sets finally after coming from behind to win, 22-24, 22-20, 16-14 in 60 minutes. In a rematch of a pool play match on Wednesday which was won by Brazil’s Lima/Antunes in two sets, 21-15, 21-18, Things were much different in their semifinal meeting. USA’s youthful Day/Ross stunningly came back from a three-point, 17-20 deficit in the first set to tie the match at 20-20 win and took advantage of two hitting errors by Lima to win 24-22.

Brazil’s veteran Lima/Antunes didn’t lose their pose and despite being down two match points in the second set, came back win and then to secure the victory and advance to the gold medal match by winning the third. In the second set, the match was tied five times and the lead changed hands four times before Brazil’s Lima/Antunes stormed back from deficits of 16-19 and 18-20 to score the final four points of the set.  The tiebreaker set was even closer than the second with nine ties and one lead change. Brazil saw the Americans rally to tie the score at 14-14 before scoring the last two points for the set and match win with a Lima poke shot over Ross and ending as Antunes blocked Ross’ kill attempt.

The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS is the showcase part of the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball, a SoCal beach festival that includes 4-person and 6-person recreational events, a youth tournament and nightly music concerts. Also part of the event is the inaugural ASICS World Series Cup featuring two teams in each gender from the USA against two international teams with the finals on Sunday. In addition to the international live FIVB telecasts, the event also features 23 hours of live or same-day telecasts split between NBC Sports Network, Universal Network and NBC TV Network.

The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam is the 291st FIVB international men’s event since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 253rd FIVB women’s tournament since women started international competition in 1992.

The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is comprised of 10 Grand Slam events and the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships. Not part of the World Tour but still counting towards the FIVB World Rankings, the FIVB yearly calendar also includes seven Open events, five double-gender and two women-only. There is a double-gender FIVB Open event being playing this week as well in Anapa, Russia.

After another week off next week, the 10-Grand Slam 2013 FIVB World Tour will continue in two weeks in Germany at the $440,000 FIVB Berlin Grand Slam. The season finale of the tour will be in Brazil in mid-October at the $440,000 FIVB Sao Paulo Grand Slam.

 

The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first time in a decade. So far it is serving up some great action and many surprises. Three time Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh dropped out last minute with an injury - leaving the field wide open.

PictureMaria Antonelli (L) of Brazil spikes the ball over Carolina Salgado of Brazil
Four women’s teams remaining out of the original 32 that started the main draw
following Thursday’s round of 16 and quarterfinals at the $440,000 FIVB Long Beach
Grand Slam double-gender tournament. Friday the FIVB Beach Volleyball World
Tour is back in the USA for the first time in a decade. While the men’s teams played
the last of three pool play matches on Thursday and the first single elimination match,
the women baked and battled under the warm Southern California sunshine. Friday
will be the semifinals and medal matches to conclude the women’s portion of the event.

The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is back in the USA for the first
time since 2003. With the event being held for the first time in Long Beach the
purpose-built site is located on the expansive glistening sands of Marina Green
Park on East Lakeshore Drive. Matches at the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam,
presented by ASICS, are scheduled to start at 8:15 a.m. Friday with the men’s
round of 16 followed at 1:00 p.m. with the men’s quarterfinals and the men’s
semifinals will be at 4:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m.


The women’s semifinals will be held at 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. with the
women’s bronze at 2 p.m. followed by the women’s gold medal match at 3:00 p.m.
General admission is free to the event. VIP tickets are on sale through the
event website at www.wsobv.com.


With final four placements secured, meeting in the women’s semifinals Friday
will be Germany’s No. 7-seeded Katrin Holtwick/Ilka Semmler vs. Brazil’s No.
4-seeded Maria Clara Salgado/Carolina Salgado and No. 2-seeded Taiana
Lima/Talita Antunes vs. USA’s No. 15-seeded Emily Day/Summer Ross.


To earn their final four spots by winning their respective Thursday’s
quarterfinal matches, Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler stopped USA’s No. 8-seeded
Lauren Fendrick/Brittany Hochevar, 21-16, 21-18 in 38 minutes; Brazil’s Salgado
sisters defeated No. 5-seeded compatriots Agatha Bednarczuk/Maria Antonelli,
23-21, 31-29 in 56 minutes; USA’s Day/Ross came from behind to upset Slovak
Republic’s No. 13-seeded Natalia Dubovcova/Dominika Nextarcova, 17-21, 21-13,
15-11 in 46 minutes and Brazil’s Lima/Antunes finally overcame Canada’s No.
24-seeded Sarah Pavan/Heather Bansley, 17-21, 21-15, 15-11 in 55 minutes. The
losing teams in the quarterfinals all leave Long Beach with official fifth place
finishes.


In the women’s round of 16 matchups that started Thursday’s competition
schedule, Germany’s Holtwick/Semmler eliminated Switzerland’s No. 17-seeded
Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, 25-27, 21-18, 15-5 in 54 minutes; USA’s
Fendrick/Hochevar defeated No. 12-seeded compatriots Jennifer Fopma/Brooke
Sweat, 21-18, 22-20 in 37 minutes; Brazil’s Bednarczuk/Antonelli eliminated
USA’s top-seeded April Ross/Jennifer Kessy, 21-15, 13-21, 16-14 in 52 minutes
and Brazil’s Salgado sisters eliminated Switzerland’s No. 9-seeded Nadine
Zumkehr/Joana Heidrich, 21-15, 21-19 in 38 minutes.


In the second four matches of the round of 16 Thursday morning, Slovak
Republic’s Dubovcova/Nextarcova upset Brazil’s No. 3-seeded, Barbara
Seixas/Liliane Maestrini, 19-21, 21-16, 15-12 in 54 minutes; USA’s Day/Ross
upset Spain’s No. 6-seeded Liliana Fernandez/Elsa Baquerizo, 21-18, 21-15 in 39
minutes; Canada’s Pavan/Bansley outlasted Czech Republic’s No. 10-seeded
Kristyna Kolocova/Marketa Slukova, 21-18, 23-25, 15-11 in 60 minutes and
Brazil’s Lima/Antunes fought through a comeback attempt to beat Germany’s No.
20-seeded Jana Kohler/Anni Schumacher, 21-6, 19-21, 15-12 in 47 minutes.


After recording their fifth straight win in Long Beach with their
quarterfinal victory, Brazil’s Antunes, who with her teammate Taina Lima lead
the point standings in the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, said, “We
started better than Canada but they rallied to catch-up once we started making
mistakes in the first set. At that point we called a time out and said to one
another ‘lets stay focused here, they are doing well, but we can do this, it is
for the quarterfinals’. We just had to give ourselves the best chance to win.
You cannot get ahead of yourself. You must play one point at a time.”


In looking ahead to Friday’s semifinal against USA’s Day/Ross, Antunes
commented, “I think this will be a tough match! Everyone will be here to support
USA. Yet, I think it will still be fun, regardless. We did play against them in
the pool (and won) but this will be a completely different match, everything is
tougher at this point. We just need to prepare ourselves for the tough
match.”


The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam, presented by ASICS, is the showcase part of
the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball, a SoCal beach festival that includes
4-person and 6-person recreational events, a youth tournament and nightly music
concerts. Also part of the event is the inaugural ASICS World Series Cup
featuring two teams in each gender from the USA against two international teams
with the finals on Sunday. In addition to the international live FIVB telecasts,
the event also includes 23 hours of live or same-day telecasts split between NBC
Sports Network, Universal Network and NBC TV Network.


The women’s semifinals and medal matches of the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam
will be held on Friday with the men’s semifinals also on Friday and men’s medal
matches closing the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam on Saturday. Play Wednesday
through Friday will start at 8 a.m. and at 11 a.m. on Saturday for the men’s
medal matches.


The gold medal teams in each gender in the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam will
each split $33,000, the silver $22,000, the bronze $16,500 and fourth place
$12,900. The women’s medal matches will be held on Friday and the men’s medal
matches on Saturday. The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam is the 291st FIVB
international men’s event since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 253rd FIVB
women’s tournament since women started international competition in 1992.


The 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour is comprised of 10 Grand Slam
events and the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships. Not part of the
World Tour but still counting towards the FIVB World Rankings, the FIVB yearly
calendar also includes seven Open events, five double-gender and two women-only.
There is a double-gender FIVB Open event being playing this week as well in
Anapa, Russia.


After another week off next week, the 10-Grand Slam 2013 FIVB World Tour will
continue in two weeks in Germany at the $440,000 FIVB Berlin Grand Slam. The
season finale of the tour will be in Brazil in mid-October at the $440,000 FIVB
Sao Paulo Grand Slam.