Mazury Orlen Grand Slam - US Fendrick-Hanson remain undefeated in the qualifying stage – Volleyball News
Top-seeded American duo of Lauren Fendrick- Brooke Hanson opened the Mazury Orlen Grand Slam women’s beach volleyball tournament on Tuesday and pulled off success in their opening matches.
Fendrick- Hanson recently participated in the 2012 London Olympic Games and showcased their amazing tactics. Following the Olympics, the duo exhibited a stellar feat in the qualifying matches of Mazury Orlen and clinched a berth in the Main Draw, scheduled to be held on Wednesday in Stare Jablonki, Poland.
American pair was challenged by Latvia’s Monta and Alise in the first fixture of the day. The 32nd-seeded Latvian pair did not pose a threat to the Americans. Fendrick/ Hanson totally dominated the first set and restricted the opponents to a low score of 4. Second set was not different either. Latvians failed to cope with the power of killing spikes and deadly aces from the opposite side and gave out too many points in a row. The one-sided affair quickly inched its way to the end and announced Fendrick- Hanson as the winners. The final set scores were 2-0 (21-4, 21-7), while the match completed its length in 25 minutes.
In the next run, Austrian pairing of Teufl and Klopf came to face the charged-up American duo. Austrian team showed good fighting spirit and displayed good action. Nonetheless, the US pair crushed the opponent in straight sets and marched away with 2-0 (21-14, 21-13) victory. The match lasted for 29 minutes.
Fendrick- Hanson claimed 2-0 record at the end of the day and cruised past to the next stage of the tournament. The American top seeds will be back in action in the first round of Main Draw on Wednesday. Both players on the team are enjoying a good form and it is likely that they will make their way to the final four of the competition.
Elsewhere, Akers-Hochevar also worked out good performance in their respective matches and qualified for the Main Draw. They defeated Pilarek-Gancarczyk of Poland in the first match, 2-1 (20-22, 21-12, 15-7). It took them almost 41 minutes to dismantle the power of Polish ladies, who managed to claim one frame in the three-set affair.
Akers-Hochevar carried the momentum in the next match and held off Dutch pairing of Sinnema /Wesselink in another three-set match. They secured the opening stanza with narrow gap of two points (22-20), while lost the following set with same margin (19-21). In the decisive third set, American duo regained better status and closed the match by posting 18-16 on board.
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