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Two from two for beach volleyballers

 

Two from two for beach volleyballers

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AOC
Two from two for beach volleyballers
Australian beach volleyballers Taliqua Clancy and Louise Bawden made it two from two with a resounding 21-9, 21-14 win over Venezuela in their Pool E match tonight.

VOLLEYBALL: Australian beach volleyballers Taliqua Clancy and Louise Bawden made it two from two with a resounding 21-9, 21-14 win over Venezuela in their Pool E match tonight.

After a solid first-up outing against Costa Rica on Saturday, the top-ranked Aussies made light work of the Venezuelan pairing of Olaya Perez Pazo and Norisbeth Agudo.

The Australians were ruthless from the get-go, with Clancy’s serving and Bawden’s power game at the net proving too much to handle for their opponents.

Playing in front of their biggest crowd to date, the pair wrapped up the first set in just 15 minutes and looked at ease in the conditions.

The Venezuelans provided some resistance in the second set but it was more of the same from the Australians, with the two varying their play to good effect.

The Aussies were particularly effective at implementing a two-hit strategy throughout the match, catching the Venezuelans off guard on several occasions.

Bawden praised the scouting report from their coaches that had the team well prepared to face a Venezuelan team that, at their best, are a crafty and agile unit.

“Playing against the Venezuelans, [you can] get pushed around by their skills and their ball placement and we were really keen on bringing the physicality,” Bawden said.

“’T’ did such a good job at the net, there were a few sets that were a little bit tight but she’s got a great reach and beat her [opponent] every time, so it was great to see."

“I think there was a few aces from both of us, we did a really good job and we just want to keep growing our game every time we get on the court,” Clancy added.

Bawden and Clancy will now face the Netherlands in their final pool match, in what is expected to be their toughest test of the preliminary stages.

“I’m really excited for [the next match], I think we’ve done ourselves a lot of favours with the way we’ve played these games, and I just feel ready to play again,” Bawden said.

Their teammates Mariafe del Solar and Nikki Laird face a tougher battle to qualify for the knockout stages, but remain a chance should they defeat China (also on Wednesday) and have some other results fall their way.

Doug MacDougall
olympics.com.au

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