Volleyball Update: SWATCH FIVB Phuket Open Tournament- Ivy and Rutledge emerged as winners from the American country quotas
The SWATCH FIVB Phuket Open Tournament is underway in the Thailand from 2-7 November, 2010. The tournament was opened with the American Country Quota (CQ) matches on Tuesday. United States was the only country featured in the CQ stage as USA had four pairs
in the tournament. According to Federation International de Volleyball (FIVB) rules, if a country has four or higher number of teams in a tournament, it has to go through the qualifying bracket of country quota matches.
Quite similarly, at the Sanya Open Tournament in China last week, American pairs had to appear in the CQ matches, in order to qualify for the next stage. Apart from this, the tournament has the same set up. The second stage of the tournament featured the
qualification tournament and then it entered the main-draw stage on Thursday. The activity will be rounded off on Sunday, 7th November, 2010 with the completion of ‘final four’ matches.
Three matches were played on the first day of the tournament. The pair of Ashley Ivy and Lisa Rutledge captured victory in the first country quota match. Likewise, Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Hanson joined them by winning second match. Both winning sides
clashed in the third match, which was supposed to promote one duo in the next stage of ‘qualification tournament’.
Ivy/Rutledge vs. Fendrick/Hanson 2-1 (21-19, 12-21, and 15-9)
Fendrick and Hanson had the competitive edge on the other side as they crushed everything in their sight at Sanya Open Tournament in China. The duo enjoyed a great rhythm and vibe and entered the game with a strong impression. However, the competitor side
which comprised of Ivy and Rutledge was determined to launch their power on the opponents.
The match was opened on a good note. Ashley Ivy took a long run and served the ball with full power of her forearms. On the other side of the net, Fendrick and Hanson were positioned in a unique receiving style. They returned the ball and quickly moved on
the sand. Ivy/Rutledge put more effort and managed to steal early points from their rivals. Fendrick/Hanson also used their tactics and added points in their score. The first-set game gradually moved to the finish line. Ivy and Rutledge hit nice floaters and
under hands shots, which enabled them to secure the first set at 21-19.
Fendrick and Hanson made a great come-back in the second set. They attacked angrily and restricted Ivy/Rutledge to raise their score. The up side went down and Fendrick/Hanson tied the game at 1-1 by winning the second set. They posted 21-12 over Ivy/Rutledge
to claim second set.
Third decisive set started out with 3-0 lead for Ivy/Rutledge. Nonetheless, Fendrick and Hanson contributed 4 consecutive points and picked up a lead of 7-6. Ivy and Rutledge hit back and once again took the score to 8-7. The see-saw battle continued up
till the end of third set, which ended in Ivy/Rutledge’s favour (15-9). The duo of Ivy and Rutledge earned a slot in the next round of the Phuket Open Tournament.
After the brilliant victory in the country quota stage, the pair of Ivy and Rutledge will be amongst 40 teams who will contest their abilities to capture the last eight spots in Thursday’s opening Main Draw rounds.
Ivy was delighted about the victory and expressed her views, “I’m just going all out. I’ve been plagued with injuries all year, but not enough to keep me from playing. I just thought ‘you can use it as an excuse or you can play it out’ and I’ve chosen
to play it out. I was real excited to have my last practice of the season yesterday though. Lauren and Brooke had a phenomenal tournament last week, and obviously we know them very well. I’ve had success here but it hasn’t been the easy way. I think last
year my Facebook status was ‘I like to do it the hard way in Thailand’.”
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