Post by Nutter on Jul 22, 2005 9:36:44 GMT -5
www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/summer/2005-07-20-volleyball-teammates_x.htm
Posted 7/20/2005 11:41 PM Updated 7/21/2005 12:09 AM
Partners part ways, produce power pairs
By David Leon Moore, USA TODAY
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — Athens was not kind to Stein Metzger during last summer's Olympics. But a year later, the veteran beach volleyball player is on top of the world, or at least on top of the AVP pro beach rankings, as he contentedly munches on a Greek salad at a café in Manhattan Beach.
"Things," he says, "have worked out better than I could have imagined."
The sands of Greece were equally unforgiving to Dax Holdren, Metzger's former partner. But as he sits on Manhattan Beach's soft sand after a morning workout at the famed Marine Street courts, he couldn't have a warmer glow about him. (Related item: Vet Kiraly still a factor)
"Things," he says, "are going good and getting better."
Of course, making a living with sand between your toes is almost always a good thing. But for Metzger and Holdren, this year has proved to be not only fun but also redemptive.
They wasted no time in splitting up after last year's Olympics, and they've wasted no time in reclaiming their reputations as two of the best all-around players on the beach.
Metzger and his new partner, Jake Gibb, the AVP's latest blocking sensation, are the Nissan Series tour's No. 1-ranked men's duo, winners of three of seven events this season.
Holdren and his new partner, Jeff Nygaard, the 2003 AVP most valuable player, are ranked No. 2, winners of one tournament and three times a runner-up.
They'll be among the favorites this weekend in the AVP's Hermosa Beach Open, separate men's and women's tournaments NBC will televise live Saturday (men's final) and Sunday (women's final).
Stuck together
As Olympic partners last year, Metzger, 32, of Manhattan Beach and Holdren, 32, of Santa Barbara were a mismatched set, two smallish (both 6-3) defensive players forced to play together by a combination of beach volleyball's never-ending soap opera of partner switches and the international volleyball federation's method of qualifying for the Olympics.
A year before the Olympics, they had been dumped by their previous partners, Metzger by Kevin Wong and Holdren by 2000 gold medalist Eric Fonoimoana.
So, in Athens, seeded 12th, they carried the unofficial nickname "The Dumpees."
To no one's surprise, they didn't win a medal, though their fifth-place finish was better than many expected. Coupled with the surprisingly weak 19th-place effort by Dain Blanton and Nygaard, the U.S. men were a washout after having won gold medals in the previous two Olympics.
Holdren and Metzger knew they had little chance in Athens, acknowledging that each would do much better with a different, bigger partner. But they couldn't switch partners in 2004 because they had all but guaranteed themselves a spot in the Olympics by finishing second together in an unbelievable performance in the World Championships in late 2003, their first international tournament together.
If they had switched partners after that, they would have surrendered all their Olympic qualification points as a team and would have had no shot at getting to the Olympics.
So they were stuck together, like it or not. Off the court, they loved it, growing to be close friends. On the court, it was a constant struggle to match up at the net with teams that, in recent years, almost always have a 6-7 or 6-8 blocker.
Even if they played a near-flawless game, and they sometimes did, one or two big blocks against them could turn a match.
"We were the consummate underdogs," Metzger says. "We got dumped, kicked around. It was us against the world. We had to just strap on our boots and go after it. We didn't feel like we had a whole lot of support from anyone in the volleyball world, including the media.
"That's why we became so close. When you're the underdog, and it seems like everything's against you and you're just battling uphill all the time and the only person you have to rely on is your partner, you become really close."
Even as they tried together to win a medal, they knew their partnership would end after the Olympics.
"We really shouldn't have been playing together," Holdren says. "But I can't be sorry for getting there. We did the best we could, played as well as we could. And I had a great time. I got to bring my wife and kids. It was amazing, walking in the opening ceremonies and all that stuff."
Better this year
Immediately after the closing ceremonies, both started thinking about the 2005 season — and finding a big guy.
They both hit pay dirt. In the 6-7, 29-year-old Gibb, Metzger has a partner who is powerful, athletic and still just learning the game. An oddity in the sport, Gibb never played college volleyball, picking up the game in his backyard in Utah when he was 21.
"I think they used a garden hose for the lines," Metzger says.
In the 6-8, 32-year-old Nygaard, who himself was dumped after the Olympics by Blanton, Holdren has a veteran partner who is playing much better this year after an admittedly poor 2004 season.
This is redemptive for Nygaard, too. "I have a lot of regrets about last year," he says. "Dain and I had the potential to win an Olympic medal, and the bottom line is we just didn't play well."
The first two tournaments this season helped erase a lot of the pain of all involved. Both times Metzger/Gibb and Holdren/Nygaard reached the final, with Metzger/Gibb winning both.
"We'd get to the final and look at each other across the net and say, 'How cool is this?' " Metzger says.
In the fourth tournament of the year, in Holdren's hometown of Santa Barbara, Calif., he and Nygaard won their first tournament together.
Together, Holdren and Metzger battled adversity and forged a great friendship. Apart, they've forged the sport's two best teams.
"If we'd had these two teams at the Olympics, we probably would have had some strong results in Athens," says veteran star Karch Kiraly, a three-time volleyball gold medalist. "I'm happy for them. They're back playing at the level everyone knew they were capable of, just not together."
Posted 7/20/2005 11:41 PM Updated 7/21/2005 12:09 AM
Partners part ways, produce power pairs
By David Leon Moore, USA TODAY
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — Athens was not kind to Stein Metzger during last summer's Olympics. But a year later, the veteran beach volleyball player is on top of the world, or at least on top of the AVP pro beach rankings, as he contentedly munches on a Greek salad at a café in Manhattan Beach.
"Things," he says, "have worked out better than I could have imagined."
The sands of Greece were equally unforgiving to Dax Holdren, Metzger's former partner. But as he sits on Manhattan Beach's soft sand after a morning workout at the famed Marine Street courts, he couldn't have a warmer glow about him. (Related item: Vet Kiraly still a factor)
"Things," he says, "are going good and getting better."
Of course, making a living with sand between your toes is almost always a good thing. But for Metzger and Holdren, this year has proved to be not only fun but also redemptive.
They wasted no time in splitting up after last year's Olympics, and they've wasted no time in reclaiming their reputations as two of the best all-around players on the beach.
Metzger and his new partner, Jake Gibb, the AVP's latest blocking sensation, are the Nissan Series tour's No. 1-ranked men's duo, winners of three of seven events this season.
Holdren and his new partner, Jeff Nygaard, the 2003 AVP most valuable player, are ranked No. 2, winners of one tournament and three times a runner-up.
They'll be among the favorites this weekend in the AVP's Hermosa Beach Open, separate men's and women's tournaments NBC will televise live Saturday (men's final) and Sunday (women's final).
Stuck together
As Olympic partners last year, Metzger, 32, of Manhattan Beach and Holdren, 32, of Santa Barbara were a mismatched set, two smallish (both 6-3) defensive players forced to play together by a combination of beach volleyball's never-ending soap opera of partner switches and the international volleyball federation's method of qualifying for the Olympics.
A year before the Olympics, they had been dumped by their previous partners, Metzger by Kevin Wong and Holdren by 2000 gold medalist Eric Fonoimoana.
So, in Athens, seeded 12th, they carried the unofficial nickname "The Dumpees."
To no one's surprise, they didn't win a medal, though their fifth-place finish was better than many expected. Coupled with the surprisingly weak 19th-place effort by Dain Blanton and Nygaard, the U.S. men were a washout after having won gold medals in the previous two Olympics.
Holdren and Metzger knew they had little chance in Athens, acknowledging that each would do much better with a different, bigger partner. But they couldn't switch partners in 2004 because they had all but guaranteed themselves a spot in the Olympics by finishing second together in an unbelievable performance in the World Championships in late 2003, their first international tournament together.
If they had switched partners after that, they would have surrendered all their Olympic qualification points as a team and would have had no shot at getting to the Olympics.
So they were stuck together, like it or not. Off the court, they loved it, growing to be close friends. On the court, it was a constant struggle to match up at the net with teams that, in recent years, almost always have a 6-7 or 6-8 blocker.
Even if they played a near-flawless game, and they sometimes did, one or two big blocks against them could turn a match.
"We were the consummate underdogs," Metzger says. "We got dumped, kicked around. It was us against the world. We had to just strap on our boots and go after it. We didn't feel like we had a whole lot of support from anyone in the volleyball world, including the media.
"That's why we became so close. When you're the underdog, and it seems like everything's against you and you're just battling uphill all the time and the only person you have to rely on is your partner, you become really close."
Even as they tried together to win a medal, they knew their partnership would end after the Olympics.
"We really shouldn't have been playing together," Holdren says. "But I can't be sorry for getting there. We did the best we could, played as well as we could. And I had a great time. I got to bring my wife and kids. It was amazing, walking in the opening ceremonies and all that stuff."
Better this year
Immediately after the closing ceremonies, both started thinking about the 2005 season — and finding a big guy.
They both hit pay dirt. In the 6-7, 29-year-old Gibb, Metzger has a partner who is powerful, athletic and still just learning the game. An oddity in the sport, Gibb never played college volleyball, picking up the game in his backyard in Utah when he was 21.
"I think they used a garden hose for the lines," Metzger says.
In the 6-8, 32-year-old Nygaard, who himself was dumped after the Olympics by Blanton, Holdren has a veteran partner who is playing much better this year after an admittedly poor 2004 season.
This is redemptive for Nygaard, too. "I have a lot of regrets about last year," he says. "Dain and I had the potential to win an Olympic medal, and the bottom line is we just didn't play well."
The first two tournaments this season helped erase a lot of the pain of all involved. Both times Metzger/Gibb and Holdren/Nygaard reached the final, with Metzger/Gibb winning both.
"We'd get to the final and look at each other across the net and say, 'How cool is this?' " Metzger says.
In the fourth tournament of the year, in Holdren's hometown of Santa Barbara, Calif., he and Nygaard won their first tournament together.
Together, Holdren and Metzger battled adversity and forged a great friendship. Apart, they've forged the sport's two best teams.
"If we'd had these two teams at the Olympics, we probably would have had some strong results in Athens," says veteran star Karch Kiraly, a three-time volleyball gold medalist. "I'm happy for them. They're back playing at the level everyone knew they were capable of, just not together."