Article by Shannon Knaus, courtesy of the Australian Olympic Committee.
It was a must-win match for Aussie beach volleyballers Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy, but pressure was no object. The Tokyo Olympic silver medallists were a picture of calm when they returned to the court of the Eiffel Tower Stadium to face their final pool stage opponent, putting on a clinical display to beat Team Canada 2-0 (21-10, 21-16).
Coming off a challenging loss to the United States two days prior, it would have been understandable for Australian fans to be nervous ahead of this matchup, as Canada had beaten the Australian pair in recent times including for gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
However, Mariafe and Taliqua were the superior pair in the world rankings going into the Games and didn’t let their past matches impact their performance, making a statement to the rest of the competition.
The Australians were quick to take control of the match early in the first set, jumping out to a five point lead.
“I think we just took the important parts that we needed to improve from the last game.” Taliqua said. “We did that really well.”
“At the Olympics, you wanna be starting the game off aggressive and strong and with no fear.”
Some stunning aces from Mariafe and clinical blocks from Taliqua had the Australians putting on a clinic against Canadians Heather Bansley and Sophie Bukovec, the pair storming out to an 11-point lead to take the first set 21-10 in just 17 minutes.
While the second set followed a similar formula for the Aussies, the Canadian duo fought hard to close the gap but couldn’t stop the power and composure of Taliqua and Mariafe. Team Australia won the second set 21-16 and the match which sent them through to the knockout stage.
“We just focus on our side of the court and do what we know we can do.” Mariafe said.
“What we’ve got in our pocket is good enough to compete against the top teams in the world. It’s just a matter of doing it for a long time, having that trust and believing in ourselves.”
The pair will wait on the result from the final match of their pool to have their first knockout phase opponent confirmed. But regardless of who they face, the team on the other side of the net doesn’t matter. These two beach volleyball stars are forever cool under pressure.
“We had a pretty tough pool, if not the strongest. It was good.” Mariafe said.
“I think it’s important to have those pressure moments and those tough games we’ve got before going into the single rounds. Where the real tournament starts.”
The knockout phase of the 2024 Paris competition, the round of 16, starts following the conclusion of the last pool matches on Saturday 3 August.
