Can they do it again?
On Thursday, Miles Partain and Andy Benesh beat Olympic gold-medalists Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, ending a six-year USA losing streak to the Volley Vikings. They get another chance against the Norwegians on Sunday when they play for gold in the Volleyball World Gstaad Elite16 in Switzerland.
The USA is guaranteed a women’s medal, too, because Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes and Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss are into the semifinals.
Ninth-seeded Partain and Benesh opened Saturday play with a 21-19, 21-13 victory over 11th-seeded Brazilians Pedro Solberg and Guto Carvahlaes. Then they knocked out another Brazilian pair, seventh-seeded George Wanderly and Andre Loyola 21-14, 21-15 in the semifinals.
Mol and Sorum had a much, much tougher Saturday. The top-seeded pair knocked out second-seeded Qatar Olympic bronze-medalists Cherif Samba and Ahmed Tijan 31-33, 21-17, 15-13. Then in the semifinals, they got past sixth-seeded Michal Bryl and Bartosz Losiak of Poland 21-19, 18-21, 15-11.
Third-seeded Cheng and Hughes opened play Saturday with a 21-19, 21-16 victory over ninth-seeded Agatha Bednarczuk and Rebecca Cavalcanti of Brazil. Then they played another tough match against a familiar pair in seventh-seeded Canadians Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes and came away with a 20-22, 21-18, 15-11 victory.
Cheng and Hughes will play Germans Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillman, the No. 14 seed who have had a tremenous run at the tournament that started with them getting out of the qualifier. They beat 12th-seeded Brazilians Carol Salgado and Barbara Seixas in the quarterfinals 21-16, 15-21, 16-14.
Fifth-seeded Kloth and Nuss play top-seeded Ana Patricia Silva and Duda Lisboa. TKN knocked out Australians Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy, dealing the No. 2 seed a 21-10, 21-15 beating that took just 33 minutes. Ana Patricia and Duda advanced by ousting 13th-seeded Italians Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti 21-14, 21-14.
The other USA pair, 16th-seeded Betsi Flint and Julia Scoles, who got through the qualifier, lost in the round of 16 to Carol and Barbara 21-15, 21-23, 15-12.
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