Brunner-Crabb, Partain-Benesh survive thrilling Ostrava Elite16 qualifier

Be still, any American hearts who tuned into Wednesday’s qualifier of the Ostrava Elite16.

Had any USA fans tuned into the broadcast on Volleyball TV around 10:45 a.m. Pacific, they would have been treated to a pair of frenetic, close-your-eyes-and-hope-for-the-best affairs. On center court were Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner, deep in a third set with Austria’s Moritz Pristauz and Robin Seidl. At the same time, on court two, Andy Benesh and Miles Partain were enduring one of the wildest seesaws of a third set you’ll ever find at the Elite16 level.

Benesh and Partain, the 3 seed in Wednesday’s qualifier, had staked themselves to an early 7-3 lead. A four point lead is, typically, quite a safe one for those two, who have finished with a pair of top-fives and a victory in AVP Huntington Beach this season.

Safe was not a word to be used on Wednesday.

That 7-3 lead was held to 11-8 when an abrupt and frankly alarming implosion took place. A sideout from Estonia’s Kusti Nolvak preceded a block from Mart Tiisaar on Partain, then a transition swing from Tiisaar after a fantastic dig from Nolvak, another block on Partain, an error down the line from Partain, and another block from Tiisaar, this time sealing a line swing.

In a blink, the Americans’ 11-8 lead was flipped into an 11-14 deficit. That’s a type of deficit that is, in most every case at this level of the sport, near guaranteed elimination.

Meanwhile, less than 100 yards away, Crabb and Brunner were leading Seidl and Pristauz, 13-12, in the third set when Crabb mishandled a swing from Seidl down the seam. On the ensuing point, Pristauz, having dug a Crabb line shot, missed an opportunity of his own, swinging angle — directly into the block of Brunner. After failing to convert on five set points in the opening set, Brunner and Crabb now had their first match point, one that Pristauz would put away with a line swing after covering Seidl off the block, tying it up at 14-14.

Had you flipped, understandably, off of court two, thinking Partain and Benesh doomed vs. Estonia, you may very well have fallen off your chair to find their score matching that of Brunner and Crabb: 14-14. Benesh had buried an angle swing, Partain converted a dig due to a miscommunication on offense from Tiisaar and Nolvak, and Benesh put the roof on a Tiisaar angle swing, tying it, unbelievably, at 14 apiece.

On center court,…