Americans Wheeler/Dykstra Take Vaduz Gold
It wasn’t an easy road for
Allie Wheeler/Lara Dykstra, but the Americans won their first World Tour medal as a pairing on Saturday.
The 14th seeded duo, which started the tournament with a tiebreak win in the opening qualifying round, went 6-1 en route to the title in their first FIVB tournament together.
After topping Italians
Carolina Ferraris/Francesca Michieletto 21-13, 20-22, 15-13 to open the tournament, the pair solidified its spot in the main draw with a sweep of Switzerland’s
Kim Huber/Tatjana Greber. Wheeler/Dykstra won their third in a row to open Pool C play, before stumbling against Greeks
Konstantina Tsopoulou/Dimitra Manavi in the pool title match (21-16, 21-17).
The Americans bounced back in the Round of 12, topping Sweden’s
Fanny Lindstrom/Sara Malmstrom (21-13, 21-11). In the quarterfinals the pair hung on for a tiebreak win over Austria’s
Dorina Klinger/Ronja Klinger (21-18, 16-21, 15-8). Finally, a sweep of Swiss duo
Esmee Bobner/Zoe Verge-Depre (21-19, 21-19) put the pair in the finals.
With the gold medal within reach, Wheeler/Dykstra came through with a 21-13, 21-17 victory over 10th-seeded
Agata Ceynowa/Martyna Kloda of Poland. Wheeler is in her first season as a pro after completing her senior season at USC in May.
“Above all, we used the tournament to grow as a team and gain confidence in ourselves,” the pair said. “We succeeded well and we are very happy that we could win one of our first overseas tournament.”
