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vb101
Advanced Member
808 Posts |
 Posted - 08/04/2010 : 6:23:55 PM
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http://usavolleyball.org/news/2010/08/01/u-s-girls-youth-team-wins-world-championship/37611?ngb_id=2
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 1, 2010) – The girls’ beach volleyball team of Jane Croson and Summer Ross continued to make history on Sunday, becoming the first U.S. team ever to win the FIVB Youth (U-19) World Championships, which were held in Porto, Portugal.
"The competition was vey tough, but playing in the AVP against teams like Mistty May-Treanor/Nicole Branagh has increased our confidence," said Ross.
As the third-seeded partnership, the 6’1” Ross and the 5’11” Croson avenged a fifth place finish in last year’s FIVB U-19 Worlds by blanking the Australain duo, Taliqua Clancy and Eliza Hynes, 22-20 and 21-13 in the semi-finals.
Next, they faced the seventh-seeded Russian pair, Ekaterina Karapischenko and Maria Ushkovain, in the championship match. Putting aside their slow starts in previous matches, they surprised their opponents by storming to a 21-10 win.
The 16-year-old Croson, a Los Alamitos, CA high school senior, served up some heat; while the 17-year-old Ross (Carlsbad, CA High School) controlled the net.
“Our goal was to come out strong against a very good Russian team and we did it and it may have caught them a little off-guard,” said Croson in a USA Volleyball press release.
Despite dropping the second game (18-21), the pair regained their composure and once more attacked the Russians. Croson sizzled her jump serves, racking up six aces to propel her team to a quick 11-2 lead. And Ross’s well-rounded play sealed the match, as they rolled to a 15-7 victory.
“Summer is such a great partner, especially playing at the net and I needed to serve well to put the pressure on them and it worked today,” said Croson.
But there’s no rest for these energetic partners. The darlings of the AVP tour plan to compete in the season’s most popular event, the Manhattan Beach Open, on August 20 – 22.
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