A bad time for ‘bad match’

Inconsistent play hurts Canadians in loss to Germans

It was a flawed effort on the world’s most famous beach and came at the worst possible time for Canadians Sarah Pavan and Heather Bansley.

Undefeated and into the quarter-finals of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament, a medal was in view and confidence was high for the Canadians on Sunday afternoon. And then the consistency that got them within a win of the medal round washed away like the Copacabana surf.

“We had a bad match,” the Canadian duo’s coach, Scott Davenport, said after a straight set 21-14, 21-14 loss to Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany. “It’s not a good time to have a bad match against a strong team.”

Solid defensively throughout the tournament, Pavan, of Kitchener, Ont., and Bansley, of Waterdown, Ont., couldn’t adjust to the Germans’ strategy of taking away Bansley’s presence at the net.

“Obviously this isn’t the way we wanted to end,” said a choked up Pavan, who broke down when she met with family and friends outside of the stadium.

“If we had lost that game and played our best, that would have been one thing. But I think we left a lot out there, so it’s a little hard to swallow right now. They executed well and we weren’t able to fight back.”

The Germans were virtually flawless and used a strong service game, including seven aces, to keep the Canadians on their heels. If they can duplicate Sunday’s performance, they’ll have a shot at knocking off the favoured Brazilians.

“Right now I think they’re the team to beat,” Pavan said. “Everybody on (the FIVB pro) tour has been struggling to beat them this year and if they play the way they just did I think they can win it all. Everything has come together for them this year. … Offensively, both of them are them are very versatile and rangy and it is hard to get a handle on them.”