The United States's duo of Jacob Gibb and Sean Rosenthal were eliminated from competition by Latvia's Martin Plavins and Janis Smedins in three sets 19-21, 21-18, 15-11 on Monday in the Men's Beach Volleyball quarterfinals.
The score briefly summarizes the intensity behind this match.
Gibb and Rosenthal opened up the scoring taking a 1-0 lead. Latvia answered back tying the score at one. This was the first tie of the game. The U.S. kept their lead, but it never exceeded two points.
Latvia tied the set at five and then once again came back to tie it at six. Gibbs and Rosenthal built at 10-7 lead after the tie.
Smedins and Plavins looked like they were going to fall behind as the USA kept creating distance as they led 13-9. Gibbs and Rosenthal's biggest lead came a little after a Latvia timeout when they had a five-point advtange, 17-12. Latvia then scored four unanswered points to get back into the match.
With the score 20-17, Gibbs and Rosenthal almost let their lead slip as Latvia's duo made it a 20-19 match, but they were able to wrap up the set.
Set number two once again started with the U.S. taking the first point in a game that went back and forth as both teams matched each others' scoring. Latvia took a 7-6 lead for their first lead of the set. Gibbs and Rosenthal took the lead back and went up 14-13. Smedins and Plavins would not let the Americans stay ahead for too long as they bounced back to take the 16-15 lead. With the game tied at 18, Smedins and Plavins scored three unanswered points, getting themselves back in the match.
In the third and final set, Smedins and Plavins took no time to build a lead. After the Gibbs and Rosenthal opened up the scoring, Smedins and Plavins went on a 7-2 run taking a 7-3 lead.
The Latvians simply did not let Gibbs and Rosenthal gather any momentum by not allying them to string points together. The only time they managed to pick up steam was with the game 12-8, Gibbs and Rosenthal scored twice making it a 12-10 game. Smedins and Plavins finished the match on a 3-1 run to move on to the semifinals.
