Kerri Walsh Jennings got her birthday wish – the marquee semifinal showdown everyone has been waiting for.
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We received the answer here Tuesday night. To prove this, Jennings already won three gold medals in the past three Olympic Games, while Ross bagged the silver in the 2012 London Olympics of the same event.
“We could squash that team, and I say that with all the respect in the world”, Walsh Jennings said. She and Ross lost just one set in Rio until Tuesday, before Agatha and Barbara, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, were almost flawless in their straight-set victory.
As Australia set up a spike on the return, Walsh Jennings some how made it back into position and blocked the spike to come up with a huge point. But their fairy tale ended abruptly as they lost in straight sets, 22-20 and 21-18.
The match began as a contrast in styles, with Brazil showing off its creativity and the Americans relying on the power of Walsh Jennings to win points. It was no consolation.
And she said the Brazilians “should” have picked on her because she wasn’t playing well. “That’s not who we are”.
The Americans never stopped fighting, but Brazil’s serving – and their creativity at net – was too much.
Brazil will also have a team in the men’s gold medal match, as top-seeded Alison Cerutti and Bruno Schmidt took down Robert Meeuwsen and Alexander Brouwer of the Netherlands.
While the Olympic career of Walsh Jennings is not officially over, it is hard to imagine her coming back at age 42.
Everyone in the stadium stood as the final point approached. “We never gave up, but we never got our space”, Walsh Jennings said. The only time they led in the second game was at 1-0.
At the beginning of the tournament, it felt like all the matches were just a precursor to the inevitable showdown between the Brazilians and the Americans.
A largely Brazilian crowd ate it all up. In the parlance of beach volleyball, receiving serve is called passing. And with cafes and drinking establishments stretching up and down the Avenida Atlantica, the folks who poured into the bowl were partied-up and ready to yell. Couple that with the woman’s soccer team falling to Sweden in their semifinal, it felt as if the entire nation’s hopes were riding with Agatha and Barbara. At times, they seemed uncertain about coverages and a tad unsettled on ball placement. “If they can do it, I want to work hard for that as well”. “Only the athletes who have played at an Olympic Games know how it is like”. You won’t hear Walsh Jennings make that complaint.
For the first time in her career, she’ll need to settle for bronze, but even that is no sure thing.
“I have a attractive family”, she said last week.
“I wasn’t afraid out there, it was very poor execution on my part in a very fundamental part of the game and we played a match against an fantastic team. I certainly did not, and there’s no excuse for it”.
Kerri and Casey’s three children, Joseph (7), Sundance (6) and Scout (3), were not able to stay up late enough to watch their mom’s matches here.
Walsh Jennings and Ross have a chance to leave Rio with a good taste. But you could see the disappointment on her face.
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But she’s going to try. The bronze medal match could provide a clue. Throughout the match, the third-seeded Americans muffed five serves, all by Walsh Jennings. Instead, with the dynasty over, there is work to do starting a new one.
