USA's Metzger, Holdren advance in beach volleyball
Advertiser Staff and News Services
ATHENS, Greece — Full-contact beach volleyball made its Olympic debut yesterday, if only for a fleeting moment, leaving Americans Stein Metzger and Dax Holdren in a sand-covered dog pile and Germans Markus Dieckmann and Jonas Reckermann out of the tournament.
Associated Press
At match point, with the Americans on the verge of a considerable upset, Metzger scrambled to keep the play alive, then pounded a deep kill shot at Dieckmann. As soon as the ball skidded through Dieckmann's hands, Metzger turned, wide-eyed, toward Holdren and proceeded to level his partner with a delirious open-field tackle that sent Holdren flying and ought to earn Metzger a tryout with the San Diego Chargers.
The USA's Stein Metzger hits over Germany's Jonas Reckermann in yesterday's beach volleyball match. The Americans won in three.
"We put a lot of emotion into this game," Metzger said, stating the obvious. "A lot of energy. There were so many ups and downs and I struggled so much in that second set.
"To come through and pull out the big plays at the end to make it happen, we were obviously very happy."
Metzger's kill sealed a 21-16, 19-21, 15-13 victory over the fourth-seeded German team, clinching an improbable quarterfinal berth for the 12th-seeded Americans. Metzger and Holdren will play the Swiss team of Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel tomorrow, with the winner advancing to the medal round.
Yesterday, Holdren and Metzger rallied from a 9-6 deficit in the third game to pull out the match. The game was tied at 10, 11, 12 and 13 before Metzger ended it with two of his 26 kills.
"We didn't play our best," Reckermann said. "And even 80 or 90 percent is not good enough against a team as good as that."
Metzger was surprised the Germans "started serving me, which is rare. Dax gets most of the sets." On the other side, the Americans kept their serves away from Reckermann, nicknamed "The Recking Ball" by Holdren. The 6-foot-6 German took just 12 swings and put seven in the sand.
"The only way to beat that team is to keep Reckermann out of the play," Metzger said. "Our strategy was, 'Give it to the little guy.' "
Athens2004.com and usavolleyball.org contributed to this report.
