USA, Russia, Australia win women's medals Sunday at SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championships

Russia's Ekaterina Karapischenko, left, attempts to block the Mikasa poke from USA's Jane Croson as USA'S Summer Ross positions herself during the USA's women's gold medal win at the SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championships in Porto, Portugal.

Porto, Portugal, August 1, 2010—Basking in the brightness of the Portuguese sunshine Sunday, Jane Croson and Summer Ross of the United States overpowered Russia’s Ekaterina Karapischenko/Maria Ushkova to claim the women’s gold medal at the 2010 SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championships, the ninth annual event for Beach Volleyball players under 19. The five-day, double gender event was held for the first time in Portugal on a special Porto beach site located adjacent to the Edificio Transparente at the Esplanda do Rio de Janeiro.

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The world championships were determined for both men and women at the sunny seaside Porto event site with two of the semifinals and both gold medal matches televised live throughout Portugal on the Sport TV Network. The 2010 SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championships began Wednesday with a total of 88 teams (46 women’s and 42 men’s) representing 32 nations playing in Porto.

Putting the pressure on Russia’s seventh-seeded Karapischenko/Ushkova from the first serve with near flawless play and powerful serving, Southern Califonria’s third-seeded Croson, 16, from Lakewood, and Ross, 17, from Carlsbad won the USA’s first medal in this event, capturing the gold in an impressive 21-10, 18-21 and 15-7 match in the 39-minute championship match on the Porto center court.

“Our goal was to come out strong against a very good Russian team and we did it and it may have caught them a little off-guard because we hadn’t come out this strong during the entire tournament,” Croson, who will be a senior this year at Los Alamitos (Calif.) High School. “Summer is such a great partner, especially playing at the net and I needed to serve well to put the pressure on them and it worked today.  Winning the SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championship is amazing. It is an honor for both of us to represent our country like this...it’s just a dream come true. This gold medal is for my family, my country and kids my age. We have worked hard and long time to get here and I we will enjoy it. In the final nothing was easy, everything was hard and we had to keep our concentration up”

The USA’s Croson/Ross, who finished fifth in this event last year in Alanya, Turkey and are the first American females to advance to the final four in the history of this event, jumped off to a 6-1 lead in the first set, maintained it and then pulled further ahead on two consecutive aces and three total to lead 20-9 in the first set. After several ties in the second set, Croson/Ross did tie the score at 12-12 before Karapischenko/Ushkova pulled away to finish with the 21-18 win in the set.

In the deciding third set, Croson lit up the Porto sand with six more aces, including three straight to take an insurmountable 11-2 lead that ended when a Ushkova kill went wide right and the Americans had earned the women’s gold medal. Combined with the American men, the USA now has three medals and three final four appearances in this championship. They ended up with a perfect 7-0 record in Porto.

Russia’s Karapischenko/Ushkova, playing together this year after finishing second and third respectively last year in Turkey with different partners Karapischenko also finished third in 2008 at these championships in The Netherlands.  Karapischenko’s three medals are more than any other young athlete has earned in this event.  Russian women now have earned four medals total, four final four placements and combined with the men, Russia now has seven total medals and seven total final four finishes. They ended up 6-1 in the event.

In the bronze medal match on Porto’s sun-backed center court, Australia’s 13th-seeded Taliqua Clancy/Eliza Hynes claimed the medal in two-sets by defeating Brazil’s 11th-seeded Rebecca Cavalcanti/Juliana Simoes, 21-13 and 21-11 in 28-minute match. Giving Australia its second women’s medal in event history, Clancy/Hynes leave Porto with a 6-1 record. Brazil now has five final four placements (and three previous medals) and Clancy/Hynes finish their Porto trip with a 4-3 record. Combined with men, Australia’s total is the same with no men final fours and Brazil has five total medals and seven total final fours.

In the first women’s semifinal, USA’s Croson/Ross advanced to the women’s gold medal match after defeating Australia’s Clancy/Hynes, coming from behind to win 22-20 and 21-12 in 34-minutes to start Sunday’s final day of action. In the other semi, Russia’s Karapischenko/Ushkova earned Karapischenko’s third straight and Ushkova’s second straight podium match appearance in this championship, beating Brazil’s Cavalcanti/Simeo, 21-14 and 21-13 in 30 minutes.

The 2010 SWATCH FIVB Youth World Championships featured live video streaming for the first time through the efforts of the Portuguese Volleyball Federation, at www.fpvoleibol.pt. The event was the 14th FIVB international Beach Volleyball event held in Portugal (after hosting a total of 13 men and women’s events on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour) and the first world championship and the first FIVB event in Porto.

In addition to the live telecasts on Sport TV in Portugal, an IMG television crew was also on site producing special segments from both genders to air internationally on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour highlight show to air later this summer and fall. This year’s international event was produced by the Portuguese Volleyball Federation under the direction of PVF President Vicente Araújo and tournament director Teaodemiro Carvalho.