Canada Advances & Cuba Gives Way to Switzerland

Dan Dearing and Sam Schachter won their second match in a row today to advance to the round of 32 in Rome. Sadly our World Championship journey with Leila Martinez & Lidianny Echeverria came to an end in the Lucky Losers round. Canada got their win over Mexican pair Miguel Sarabia & Juan Virgen. The Cuban women fought hard, but ultimately fell to Switzerland’s Esmée Böbner & Zoé Vergé-Dépré in three sets (21-16, 13-21, 15-12).

Böbner & Vergé-Dépré are just a little luckier

This lucky losers match was very entertaining. The opening of this set was one way traffic for Switzerland as they burst out to a 5 – 0 lead. Vergé-Dépré’s serve gave Lidianny all kinds of problems with aces and getting Cuba out of system early. Lidy annd Leila even decided to switch sides after just three points to try to get Lidy a break, but Zoé found her on the right side for her third ace. When Cuba finally mounted an attack Zoé got enough of a dig for Esmée to sprint after and extend the point which Switzerland eventually won.

After the initial storm passed, Cuba settled into a side out rhythm, but the Swiss ladies were able to handle their aggressive serves and side out consistently themselves. Cuba did claw their way back slowly and closed the lead to 2 when Lidy swept down an overpass bringing the gap to just two points,14-16. Switzerland didn’t panic though and finished off the set up 21-16

Cuba comes back strong

The second set was a very different story with Cuba building an 8-5 advantage and then exploding to a 13-5 lead before winning the set 21-13. Lidy was having her way at the net with several big blocks to go with overpasses for her to attack. Cuba looked more and more comfortable in side out with Lidy unstoppable from the wide attacking position and Leila flawless with her chances.

Things changed in a hurry in the third set again, with Switzerland building a quick 3-0 lead. Böbner got a block and two Cuban bump sets traveled over the net where she waited to end the point. Switzerland were a bit careless with their serve and gave Cuba time to regroup. Cuba got a couple of big defensive plays by Leila to close the gap all the way to 8-7 at the third side switch. When Esmée set straight over, Lidy poked it deep for a 9-9 tie and it felt like Cuba was on its way to win.

Instead, Esmée stopped the Cuban momentum with an ace…