Post by beavis on Sept 1, 2017 4:26:26 GMT -5
Volleyball Mag's recap was excellent, but 20 mph winds were a drastic understatement. Oak Street Beach is getting smaller year after year, and the Lake Michigan water level is way up again, just like most of the other Great Lakes, and when you combine that with the 3-5 foot waves, you get guys in bobcats all day pushing up mounds of sand to try and protect the outer courts and the players/media/staff tents. Actually kinda nice on the outer courts, because you could sit down on top of that sand mound and watch the action very comfortably! Occasional sun but mostly cloudy made for a pretty windy, chilly day, and supposed to only be 68 degrees Friday, so there will likely be even more folks wearing parkas!
That being said, there were some pretty awesome matches going on, even with the wind blowing sets and passes all over the place. My 3 personal favorites, in no particular order: Paulis/Samuels v. Stevenson/Woloson. I'm pretty sure it was Samuels' Mom who saw the box of Lemonheads sticking out of my buddies pocket and came up and asked for some! Samuels skyballs made the whole thing worthwhile for that alone. The spin was freaky, and the ball would move around 93 feet away from the passer at a given moment - when he got it in, it was awesome! He played great even though he gave all of the kudos to Paulis, and I have not seen a hat like the one Stevenson was wearing EVER, so they kinda deserved the loss just because of that. What, do you get a free bowl of soup with that hat?
The Partains v. locals Bolton/Delvalle. The last match of the day down on North Avenue Beach, where most of the men's matches took place, and it was well worth the walk. The kids are simply freaks. The 15 year old actually played better than the 17 year old, and it was fun chatting with their Mom and Dad who were very cool people. You could tell why the kids are so even-keeled and unaffected. I was barely out of diapers at that age, and these kids are giving the older guys all they could handle. Marcus just couldn't side out in game 3, but the way they consistently pass, fearlessly handset, and relate to each other is just plain fun to watch. Had to laugh when Mom would make sure to compliment them both in order to not show any favoritism to either one - "great set, Marcus - nice cut shot, Miles!"
Cook/Spieler v Chewy/Thomas. Am I some type of twit for saying how nice it is to see a couple of African-American players out here? Had to ask why they call her Chewy, and of course now it seems pretty obvious. Cook is very talented for a short blocker, and can really set a ball, even in the crazy wind. Being a shorty myself (comparatively), I had to tell Spieler about our 4'11" libero at IU a few years ago, and she was polite enough to not punch me. Seriously, she has some real skills, and was always in the right place and dug some amazing balls. Cool to see her actually get up and spank a few as well - gonna be a tough road for Shaw/Zhang in the first round, I think.
All in all, a great quali, and hopefully the water will recede enough so that all of the courts are available Friday. First time I can remember seeing the restaurant next to Oak Street Beach partially under water. I think I may have asked Jeff Conover or Mr. Sun, a few years ago, why they ever moved to Oak Street from North Avenue in the first place, since Castaways and the bathrooms, etc. would seem to make North Avenue a much more attractive venue, and I can't remember the response, but it was weird to see even the normally much larger beach at North Avenue partially washed away? Oh well - looking forward to the main draw, and hope the wind dies down a bit!
That being said, there were some pretty awesome matches going on, even with the wind blowing sets and passes all over the place. My 3 personal favorites, in no particular order: Paulis/Samuels v. Stevenson/Woloson. I'm pretty sure it was Samuels' Mom who saw the box of Lemonheads sticking out of my buddies pocket and came up and asked for some! Samuels skyballs made the whole thing worthwhile for that alone. The spin was freaky, and the ball would move around 93 feet away from the passer at a given moment - when he got it in, it was awesome! He played great even though he gave all of the kudos to Paulis, and I have not seen a hat like the one Stevenson was wearing EVER, so they kinda deserved the loss just because of that. What, do you get a free bowl of soup with that hat?
The Partains v. locals Bolton/Delvalle. The last match of the day down on North Avenue Beach, where most of the men's matches took place, and it was well worth the walk. The kids are simply freaks. The 15 year old actually played better than the 17 year old, and it was fun chatting with their Mom and Dad who were very cool people. You could tell why the kids are so even-keeled and unaffected. I was barely out of diapers at that age, and these kids are giving the older guys all they could handle. Marcus just couldn't side out in game 3, but the way they consistently pass, fearlessly handset, and relate to each other is just plain fun to watch. Had to laugh when Mom would make sure to compliment them both in order to not show any favoritism to either one - "great set, Marcus - nice cut shot, Miles!"
Cook/Spieler v Chewy/Thomas. Am I some type of twit for saying how nice it is to see a couple of African-American players out here? Had to ask why they call her Chewy, and of course now it seems pretty obvious. Cook is very talented for a short blocker, and can really set a ball, even in the crazy wind. Being a shorty myself (comparatively), I had to tell Spieler about our 4'11" libero at IU a few years ago, and she was polite enough to not punch me. Seriously, she has some real skills, and was always in the right place and dug some amazing balls. Cool to see her actually get up and spank a few as well - gonna be a tough road for Shaw/Zhang in the first round, I think.
All in all, a great quali, and hopefully the water will recede enough so that all of the courts are available Friday. First time I can remember seeing the restaurant next to Oak Street Beach partially under water. I think I may have asked Jeff Conover or Mr. Sun, a few years ago, why they ever moved to Oak Street from North Avenue in the first place, since Castaways and the bathrooms, etc. would seem to make North Avenue a much more attractive venue, and I can't remember the response, but it was weird to see even the normally much larger beach at North Avenue partially washed away? Oh well - looking forward to the main draw, and hope the wind dies down a bit!
