Elizabeth Alchin and Georgia Johnson of Australia overcame a nervy finish against Japan\u2019s Asami Shiba and Reika Murakami to claim the bronze medal in the Rebisco Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Beach Tour Nuvali Open on Saturday in the City of Santa Rosa, Laguna with a \u00a021-17, 17-21,15-11 victory.<\/p>\n
The Australians recovered from a tough second set that Japan won using several mini-runs, highlighted by Murakami\u2019s pinpoint crosscourt hits.<\/p>\n
Alchin and Johnson finished the match at the world-class Nuvali Sand Courts in 47 minutes<\/p>\n
Johnson and Alchin, the second-highest rated team in the field, held the upper hand throughout the third set and showed mental resolve even as they called out the match referee for being a little too lenient on lifts and double contacts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important in this sport to not let those things affect our process,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe try not to get frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as it\u2019s fair among the teams teams, it is what it is,\u201d Johnson added.<\/p>\n
It was a fine finish for the Johnson and Alchin, who dropped their morning semifinal against New Zealand\u2019s Shaunna Polley and Olivia MacDonald, 16-21, 21-23, which prevented an all-Australian women\u2019s title match in the tournament organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation\u00a0president Ramon \u201cTats\u201d Suzara, also chief of the AVC.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very happy with the bronze, very happy that we bounced back after that match against New Zealand,\u201d Alchin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHappy to come back out and play a cool game, three sets, it\u2019s awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stefanie Fejes and Jasmine Fleming of Australia advanced to the title match by defeating Shiba and Murakami, 26-24, 24-22, in the semifinals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Elizabeth Alchin and Georgia Johnson of Australia overcame a nervy finish against Japan\u2019s Asami Shiba and Reika Murakami to claim the bronze medal in the Rebisco Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Beach Tour Nuvali Open on Saturday in the City of Santa Rosa, Laguna with a \u00a021-17, 17-21,15-11 victory. The Australians recovered from a tough second…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[261],"class_list":["post-2454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hoops-basketball","tag-avc-beach-tour"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t