It wasn’t the prettiest.
It didn’t have to be.
Of all of the metrics in an increasingly quantified era of sports, there is, in reality, only one that matters: Does the tally go in the W column, or does it reside in the L? On Tuesday evening in Qatar for the season-opening Doha Elite16, Miles Evans and Chase Budinger notched a pair of tallies on the proper side of the ledger, punching a most invaluable ticket into the week’s main draw.
During their first win, a 21-15, 19-21, 16-14 seesaw over Switzerland’s Adrian Heidrich and Leo Dillier, Budinger and Evans survived after ceding a 13-11 lead in the third, allowing it to be flipped into a 13-14 deficit.
Didn’t matter. They won anyway, rattling off three straight for the win.
Three hours later, against countrymen Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk? Much the same. Bourne and Schalk pushed out to a 7-5 lead in the third, after splitting the first two sets, 21-18, 23-25. Didn’t matter. Budinger and Evans flipped the lead again, retaking it at 10-9, an advantage they wouldn’t cede.
Survive. Advance. Main draw.
Budinger and Evans will now have three more matches in Doha, in Pool D against Poland’s Bartosz Losiak and Michal Bryl, Qatar’s Cherif Samba and Ahmed Tijan, and Italy’s Sam Cottafava and Paolo Nicolai.
The only other American men’s team in the tournament, Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner, endured no such stress on Tuesday. They could sit back and enjoy the action either in person or on Volleyball TV(they did) Wednesday, however, they have a date with the best in the world, Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, and another bout with hard-hitting Australians Thomas Hodges and Zachery Schubert, who emerged from the qualifier. Their final match of pool will come against the Netherlands’ Stefan Boermans and Yorick de Groot.
As a refresher on the format, three teams will advance into the playoff rounds from each pool. The top seed will earn a bye into the quarterfinals.
Nuss-Kloth, Cheng-Hughes open season at Doha Elite16
Joining Budinger and Evans, and Brunner and Crabb, in the main draw are Americans Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth, and Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes, who top pools B and C, respectively.
Nuss and Kloth will play Italians Marta Menegatti and 2023 Rookie of the Year Valentina Gottardi. They will play twice on Thursday, against Brazil’s Barbara Seixas and…
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