Cuba Falls to Australia in Second World Championship Match

Olympic silver medalists Mariafe Artacho del Solar & Taliqua Clancy came up with two big runs of points late in both sets to overcome Leila Martinez & Lidianny Echeverria in their second World Championship match today 21-16, 21-18.

The Cubans looked every bit the equal of Australia throughout but in both sets, but both got away once Australia hit 16 points. In the first set, Clancy hit three aces in a row to turn a tight 16-14 score into a comfortable 19-14 advantage for Australia. In the second set, Cuba had the minibreak advantage with Australia serving 16-16 when Clancy went to town again. This time it was her presence at the net blocking that got two points followed by yet another crucial ace. That run ended with an insurmountable 19-16 lead.

Sticking with the tactics (a little too much)

Leila and Lidy showed the more creative and powerful attack of the two teams throughout, but Australia was so consistent in their side out game that Cuba were never able to build a significant lead. The Cubans targeted Taliqua with nearly every serve to mitigate the Australian blocker’s devastating second ball attack. These teams met in Tokyo and although I don’t have access to video of that match, I’m sure it was a lesson they learned in Olympic pool play last summer.

Both Lidianny and Leila have powerful serves that can keep anyone off balance, but once Taliqua settled into a comfortable passing rhythm and Atacho del Solar provided her flawless setting, Taliqua was very hard to stop. At the end of the match I wanted to see the Cubans test Mariafe a few times, but they stayed on Taliqua until the bitter end. Mariafe had very few chances to swing at the ball and actually took a couple of successful second ball swings of her own to break the monotony, including a kill for the win at match point.

So much power, so little luck

Echeverria and Martinez are forces on offense. Their attacks frequently flashed by Mariafe before she could react. We’re used to seeing the Australian defender use her quickness to get her hands on everything, but Cuba blasted past her again and again. They also unleashed some of the sharpest wrist away cut shots I’ve seen by a women’s team. They mixed up wide attacks at the pin with back sets to create a lot of room against one of the best defensive…