2007 AVP Awards Banquet

A Thai disappointment
Missed opportunity could come back to haunt Ross, Boss
By April Ross
November 2
I really didn't expect to be out of the tournament while composing this blog. We had a great draw yesterday in a German team who had upset a higher-seeded team. On paper we were supposed to beat them, but they were on fire and we were having some "rhythm problems." After winning the first, we were up 16-12 in the second and couldn't finish. They came out serving really tough in the third and immediately we started off down, we managed to make some plays, but it wasn't enough and they took us down, 15-13. To make it worse, they reacted to the win like they just took home the gold.
In the next match, we drew China's third team, a good draw, even in the loser's bracket. We were playing well and won the first, but then Jen's groin injury (sustained when we began training here) kicked in and we just couldn't keep the boat afloat. We gave it our all, but fell in three, 20-18, in the third.
For Jen and I, the way we finished here in Thailand is a huge disappointment. We trained hard for three weeks, finally got to really work on some stuff that needed tweaking only to lose to lower-seeded teams that normally we would defeat. We took home a ninth. Yes, there are ways of framing this in a positive light ... we are still replacing bad finishes, EY and Nicole still have ninths in their top finishes, and we get a full offseason (that we haven't had yet as a team) to prepare for next season's four grand slams, but in reality this was a missed opportunity that could come back to haunt us. We pretty much gave this tournament to Branagh-Youngs and Wacholder-Turner. It's even harder to accept because we weren't able to capitalize on our good draw in Fortaleza either, which would have gotten us into the final four. Apparently we'd rather do things the hard way.
Despite the frustration we felt from losing the way we did, I must admit, every match we played was fun for me. I haven't enjoyed volleyball that much for a while; I'm sure it was due to the month off, which is awesome because that means I'm going to be super fired up after four and a half months of no competition. The fact that I got to play full-time defense also added to my enjoyment (due to Jen's groin she had to run up and block full-time). Defense is my favorite aspect of the game and, as I've said before, eventually I'd like to be a full-time defender.
EY and Nicole are on path to play Rachel and Tyra again today, so one of them will be knocked out with a fifth and one will make it to the final four. Kerri and Misty are in the semis and just waiting for their next victim. Jen and I are going to make them all jealous they didn't get a ninth too by going surfing in front of the site while they're playing.
So now that the season is over I'm really excited to relax a little bit, NOT travel and catch up with my friends and family. That is, after our trip to the Dominican. Through the AVP and Crocs, we are going there to hand out free Crocs to kids who were hit hard by the tropical storm or who weren't very well off to begin with. I'm thankful we get this opportunity at the end of a season that has been so good to us to give back to people who aren't as fortunate. I'm sure it's going to put a lot into perspective, but really I just hope our effort helps out and provides a little hope after such a disaster. I will let you all know how it goes, so keep reading!
October 31
Before we left on Friday night, Jen [Boss] and AB (her hubby), Brad and I went to the USC vs. Cal volleyball game at the Galen Center then cruised over to La Barca (a staple in every trip to USC) for dinner and a margarita. It was fun and a good way to "de-stress" before our flight. After dinner we got dropped off at the airport and said our goodbyes. (I found out once I got to Thailand that SC beat Stanford the next night. Fight on!)
Once again, Jen and I had an uneventful trip. Granted, it was twenty hours of flying, but we slept most of the way, and, minus about four gate changes in Hong Kong, nothing went wrong. The hotel we're staying at is a tropical resort with the nicest, most exotic pool I've ever been to, right in the middle is a swim up bar under a huge Buddha head that is at least the height of a two story building. And despite Jen's mishap last year (you'll have to ask her about it), they let us in, and our room is pretty nice, not to mention only fifty bucks a night.
This tournament to me is a kind of milestone. It's the first international tournament I've been to twice, so technically it's my one year anniversary on the FIVB. I think I took it for granted a little last year, for some reason it seems nicer, more tranquil and more like a vacation destination this year. It's so beautiful, and everything's extremely cheap! Jen and I have gotten two hour-long massages for less than $10 each time. We went shopping at the little shops along the beach, and I got a bag, a wallet and a dress for about $35, and I could have managed less, but I feel bad when I try and bargain too low.
The site is awesome, right on the water, a little too close apparently, because the waves have been washing away the courts! They remade them several times, but they couldn't get them to stay until yesterday when they got the big tractors out there and piled up the sand as high as they could and still the waves were slowly eating away at it. They erected two side courts down the road on a soccer field, but hopefully they'll find a lasting solution at the center court.
As I mentioned, Jen and I had an easy time getting here. Not so for our physio, Chris. He got both his checked bags fine, but the bag with all his athletic equipment never showed up, so we have to improvise. Rachel (Wacholder) tried to arrange for someone to tape her before practice yesterday and what she got was a Thai girl offering her some Scotch Tape, that wasn't going to work. And today Jen went looking for an anti-inflammatory (like Aleeve), but only managed to find some suspicious looking pink pills that claimed to be ibuprofen, she decided she could live without them.
This morning we woke up at 6 a.m. (still trying to adapt to the 15-hour time change), enjoyed the wonderful hotel buffet and then rented scooters for the day (think moped). We drove up the coast a little ways until we came across a beautiful resort in a cove surrounded by cliffs, so we decided to check it out and ended up seeing a baby elephant!
We drove back to the site to watch Rachel and Tyra play; they beat Mexico (and my former teammate Bibiana Candelas) in two to qualify. The Philippines (Diane Pascua and Heidi Illustre, former AVPers) also qualified, beating Kazakhstan, which, thanks to Borat, made watching the match, oh, so much more interesting. We practiced after these matches then hopped back on the scooters for more adventure.
This time we went up the coast in the opposite direction and found a nearby beach that looked like it was right out of a Travel Channel feature. We also found a cute little coffee shop (and everyone who knows me knows I love coffee shops), so we stopped and had an amazing chocolate chip muffin and strawberry smoothie. Our day with the scooters was so outstanding we decided to rent them for two more days. They only cost six bucks a day so why not, right?
Tomorrow the main draw starts so I have to get some rest. We have Canada first, the same team we practiced against two days ago. It never fails — we always play the team we practice against in the tournament. I think Wacholder-Turner are scheduled to come up against Branagh-Youngs at some point, but we have all foreign teams lined up at the moment in stark contrast to the Fortaleza event. Well, last tournament of the season, no better time to go all out. Wish us luck!

Phuket takes on an American flavor
FIVB final to feature Misty-Kerri, Nicole-EY
By Mike Scarr / avp.com
It will be an all-American final Sunday at the FIVB Phuket Thailand Open.
The teams of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, and Nicole Branagh-Elaine Youngs both advanced out of the semifinals with straight-set victories.
In Saturday's first semifinal, May-Treanor and Walsh easily dispatched No. 14 Rieke Brink-Abeler and Hella Jurich of Germany, 21-17, 21-16, while Branagh and Youngs took out the No. 2 seed of the tournament with a 21-17, 21-17 victory over China's Jia Tian and Jie Wang.
It was the first final four appearance for Abeler and Jurich, who will face Tian and Wang in Sunday's bronze-medal match.
"We reached the quarterfinals in Berlin earlier this year for our previous highlight, but now we are in position to medal internationally," Brink-Abeler said before her semifinal match. "We are excited, but we face a big challenge against the American champions."
The victories have produced the 16th international gold-medal final between U.S. squads and the first since 2005 when May-Treanor and Walsh defeated Youngs and then-partner Rachel Wacholder in Austria.
May-Treanor and Walsh will be looking for their 31st gold medal, which would tie Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede of Brazil for the most ever in international competition.
Sunday's matchup will also pit May-Treanor and Walsh against the team that handed them their last defeat. Branagh and Youngs outlasted May-Treanor and Walsh, 15-21, 21-19, 16-14 in August at the AVP Boston Open.
Since that loss, May-Treanor and Walsh have won 26 straight matches, including 11 on the FIVB circuit. On Sunday, they'll be playing for their seventh international gold medal this season in eight tournaments. They also hold a 14-2 series edge over Branagh and Youngs and have won all four matches between the two teams in FIVB play.
May-Treanor and Walsh had the relatively easy road to Sunday's final in Thailand, losing two games in five matches, while Branagh and Youngs opted for the much tougher route by dropping their second match of the tournament to fall into the loser's bracket at the hands of qualifiers Tyra Turner and Wacholder.
But Branagh and Youngs methodically worked their way through the opposite side of the draw. And while May-Treanor and Walsh played just 35 minutes of volleyball Saturday, Branagh and Youngs needed to find the energy to carve out three match victories.
They opened with a 21-17, 21-15 win over No. 7 Lu Wang and Man Zuo of China and then avenged Thursday's loss by returning the favor against Turner and Wacholder with a 21-12, 21-13 victory.
Youngs and Branagh then took out Tian and Wang, who are currently the top-ranked Chinese squad and are running second behind May-Treanor and Walsh overall in Olympic qualification points. Youngs and Branagh are also riding a pair of bronze-medal finishes in their last two FIVB events.

An amazing week in Thailand
Wacholder gets some great relaxation in Phuket
By Rachel Wacholder
November 4
I'm in Phuket, Thailand and just competed in my last match of the season. We ended up with a fifth-place finish. We played some of our best volleyball and some of our worst, but overall I am happy with the progress we made in this event.
Our seed was bad, because of poor finishes, so we had a tough draw. We won our first three rounds, beating France, upsetting the fourth seed (EY-Nicole) and then the fifth seed (Talita-Renata from Brazil), before losing to Misty-Kerri and then playing EY-Nicole again and losing. We have proven we are capable of beating top teams, but we have struggled with consistency.
Although fifth is not where we want to be, we are moving in the right direction and I feel like we gained a level of trust and respect that we were lacking for a lot of this year. We have had our ups and downs this season and were a little disappointed with our international results, but we have grown a lot as a team and believe that our best volleyball is yet to come. We know we have not come close to our potential and look forward to working our butts off this offseason and making a push to be the second U.S. team in Beijing.
Aside from volleyball, I have had an amazing week in Thailand. We are so lucky that there is a beautiful Hilton resort right next to the tournament. Kerri and I are staying together -- Casey and Sean stayed home -- and we have a beautiful room overlooking Karon Beach. My dad and his friend are also here along with Tyra and Chad. The staff has been incredible. They have taken care of every request we have had and been extremely accomodating.
I haven't been this relaxed for a long time -- I think I have slept better this week then I have for the last 10 years. We have gone to some amazing spots for dinner and enjoyed the company of some of our international friends that we won't be seeing for awhile. I think that has been one of my favorite things about playing internationally -- having the opportunity to get to know people from all over the world. I have made some wonderful friends that I hope to keep in contact with for the rest of my life.
I just got back from getting a 1 1/2-hour massage for under 10 dollars. If I lived here, I would be doing a lot of that. Everything is so cheap. Ty, Chad and I walked around an outdoor market yesterday and ended up buying tons of stuff. We got stuck inside one of the tents when it started to rain, and ended up watching Misty and Kerri's match on TV. It was pretty funny -- sitting there in the middle of this cluttered market, with knick knacks, clothes, bags, you name it hanging everywhere and then the three of us watching a TV, plugged into who knows what, with a bunch of Thai vendors and a dirty little poodle. It was great!
My time is up on this computer, so I have to run. I am off to the airport in a few hours. I fly to Bangkok and spend the night and then leave early in the morning for Japan and then Hawaii. Sean is meeting me there and we are going to get married on Nov. 10. I will share all the details in my next blog.