Women's Volleyball: Marcio Sicoli's Olympic Blog - August 8 Update
August 8, 2012
Marcio Sicoli, assistant coach for the indoor and sand volleyball teams at Pepperdine, is currently in London for the 2012 Olympic Games where he is serving as coach for beach volleyball legends and two-time gold medalists Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor.
Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor, who were crowned Olympic Champions in Athens in 2004 and again in 2008 in Beijing, enter the London Games ranked No. 3.
Sicoli, who has been on the Waves’ staff since 2008, has helped lead the indoor squad to a West Coast Conference championship in 2011 and two NCAA Tournament berths. In April 2012, Sicoli tutored Pepperdine to the first-ever AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball National Championship.
Although this is Sicoli’s first time attending the Olympics with Walsh-Jennings and May-Treanor, he does have prior experience at the Games having served as an assistant coach for the Brazilian beach volleyball team from 2000-04.
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Hi Pepperdine Fans!!
I have been receiving so many emails and texts of support -- I really appreciate them and Misty and Kerri do as well. OBIRGADO!! It has been a crazy and fast week. After a slow-pace start with one match every other day, the single elimination round is harder, faster and more nerve racking! We are really focused on our mission: “Conquer the summit!”
After a really good match versus the Netherlands we were excited to play Italy and take everything one match at a time. The last time we played against Marta Menegatti and Greta Cicolari was in Rome. At the time, Misty and Kerri were still trying to re-establish their identity as a team and the Italians crushed us in straight sets. This was also the first time we had to play on back-to-back days the entire Olympics. As my roommate Bob Alejo – Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers’ strength coach – said, it would be a test of our psyche and body. When I got the Olympic schedule, I saw the possibility of playing back-to-back in the final phases. Despite being called crazy by many, including Kerri and Misty, the first week in London we had two double days (of practice) in a row, right before the opening ceremonies. Although it seemed crazy at the time, it helped prepare us for these final grueling days!
Quarterfinals vs. Marta Menegatti/Greta Cicolari (Italy)
The day of quarterfinals started with practice in the morning. It was also the day of the marathon, and with several road closures it took us 40 minutes to get to the venue (normally takes about half of that). On top of that it was raining! I had the chance to cancel practice and do something else, but decided to stick with the plan. It has been our mentality to work on being comfortable in the uncomfortable situations. The car had to drop us off pretty far away and the walk to the venue was brutal. During practice, Kerri and Misty weren’t exactly in the greatest of moods (sorry girls!). The attitude was: Why do I have to go through this? I’m two-time gold medalist, why do I need the extra repetition? Well here is what we learned: It isn’t about the reps, but it’s about sticking together, working through the tough times and being the best. If you can make it through the hard times, you can certainly make it through the good times as a unified team. Well we made it through practice, perhaps a bit rain soaked, but mentally stronger than ever before. The team is getting on the right path to “attack the summit!” Later on in the day, we had a great warm-up before the match. The team was focused and the mindset wasn’t to weather storm... but BE THE STORM! Kerri and Misty won 21-13, 21-13.
Semifinals vs. Chen Xue/Xi Zhang (China)
We watched the Chinese team play well during their quarterfinal match, so we knew it would be a battle. After our quarterfinal, we had a full day off. It was mandatory to have one treatment in the afternoon to re-focus and start the whole cycle of preparation for the match. We kept our same routine and at 10 a.m. the next day we were out there getting some reps in. The girls were excited and ready to play. Actually really ready, anxious to get there and have a chance to battle to be in an Olympic final again. Practice went well with Misty and Kerri and both were playing phenomenally on defense. Before the match, we met as a team to talk about the game plan. As we finished, I reminded them of all their hard work and character they’ve shown though out this entire process. For today’s match, we decided to remember what Casey Jennings said before we left for London: “THE THREE Bs - BELIEVE - BREATH - BATTLE!” Well believe, breath and battle is exactly what we had to do. We fell behind by six points in the first set, but were able to fight out way back and win 22-20, 22-20.
To top it all off Jennifer Kessy and April Ross upset Larissa França and Juliana Felisberta Da Silva -- the top-seeded team from Brazil -- 15-21, 21-19, 15-12. One way or another, the United States will win a gold medal on Wednesday!
Go USA!
Marcio
Click here for the full release, which includes prior entries to Sicoli’s blog.
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