Post by swim4life107 on Sept 24, 2021 18:38:54 GMT -5
April obviously had some success with Lauren, 2nd at world champs and winning a couple of AVPs. But going with another player turning 39 would have been risky, especially one planning to start a family (assuming that was discussed).
Alix really fell into her lap at the right time. But otherwise Summer seemed like the best option at the time. Kolinske also might have been an interesting choice with Olympic potential.
Poor Lauren, one 15 point game and she would have had an all time underdog story, but the rest of that year, and again April had some issues, they got beaten soundly in 2 games every time they played a good team. Hindsight, blah blah, but I think April may have tried to reconcile with Kerri if the Alix option didnt work out
I'm sure April considers that 2nd place at Worlds to be one of her career best moments. Her and Fendrick were absolutely abysmal coming into Worlds. The SF win against MPH/Pavan is one of her best wins (probably just behind the Juliana/Larisa London SF and just ahead of the Bronze Medal Match in Rio). Canada was red hot and that smelled like a 21-10, 21-11 type beatdown. Somehow they turned that match on their heels. In hindsight, that match feels even more strange given that April lost a rematch 2 years later in the final with a much better partner.
2017 was a very depressing year. The US had 2 Top 5 players and we watched them take 5ths, 9ths, and 17ths because they were playing with inferior partners. I listened to April on the "Just Womens Sports" podcast last year. I got the sense from the interview that she would have stuck it out with Kerri if not for the AVP dispute. In fact, once Kerri decided on going for Tokyo, they were still planning on playing together internationally and April was going to find a domestic partner. Kerri forced her hand with signing the AVP contract. The April/Alix pairing is a complete happy accident.
As for Kelly Claes, didn't she and April flop horrendously in an FIVB just before she paired up with Alix? Not sure if they had any intention of playing together or if that tournament functioned as a test run?