A photo gallery featuring the best shots from Andy J. Gordon follows the story. Click on any photo to view full size.
The New York Nitro threw down the gauntlet by winning all four of its matches as the sand-breaking AVP League made its debut this past weekend.
Tabbed as one of the preseason League favorites, the Nitro’s dynamic duos of USA Olympians and reigning world champions Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes and fan favorites Taylor Crabb and Taylor Sander collectively dropped one set while defeating the Brooklyn Blaze on Saturday night and the LA Launch on Sunday afternoon at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the campus of UCLA.
“We’ve got a great vibe going on with our team. The Taylors are awesome,” Hughes said after hitting .900 (9-for-10 with no errors) and making 11 digs in a 17-15, 15-9 victory over the Launch’s Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles that closed out Sunday’s doubleheader.
Crabb and Sander weathered no little adversity in pulling out an air-tight 14-16, 17-15, 15-12 triumph over Tim Bomgren and Troy Field of the Launch. Crabb this weekend ditched the athletic shoes and tube socks he wore to protect an injury to his left foot during a run to the Heritage Series final in Chicago two weeks ago.
A constant theme of the first two twin bills was how the shorter sets to 15 points (rather than the standard 21-21-15 best-of-three format used in bracket-style events) created an immediate sense of urgency
“You’ve got to come out strong, which is a challenge for us because sometimes we come out slow and finish fast,” Cheng said.
The first set against Flint and Scoles mirrored that tendency. Cheng-Hughes trailed 12-8 — a huge hole to crawl out of — after the 6-foot-1 Scoles’ thunderous kill from eight feet off the net that chiseled Cheng’s block.
But three consecutive points on Flint’s service error, Hughes’ spike in transition and a double called on Scoles’ hand-set gave the Nitro pair new hope. They survived two set points, pulling even at 14 on an open-net detonation by Hughes, then gained a one-point edge on a clever back bump to the far cross-court corner by Cheng. Hughes put an exclamation point on the set by calmly digging Scoles’ sizzling spike, soaring high off of the newly laid jumper’s sand at the UCLA tennis stadium, and pounding down a ball past a frantically retreating Scoles.
The teams played even through the first half of the second…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Volleyballmag.com…