Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes’ tournament was over almost before it began.
Even after they battled through a brutal country quota playoff, which required a win over Emily Day and Sarah Hughes, they still needed to make a nearly 24-hour trip to Doha, Qatar, to play in a single-elimination qualifier. One loss, and they’d be going home, a potential devastating blow to their Olympic chances.
In Doha, they’d play a young Dutch team, Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam. After dropping the first set, 19-21, they found themselves down, 18-20 in the second. Two match points on the line. Two opportunities for the Dutch to send them home.
Then Claes and Sponcil rallied.
Sponcil made plays only Sarah Sponcil can make, staving off one potential match-sealing kill after another. They survived the second set – then found themselves down again, 8-10, in the third set. Again, Sponcil and Claes rallied, coming back to win, 15-12, securing a spot in the main draw.
They more than simply survived.
In Doha, the first time the FIVB has held a women’s event in the capital of Qatar, Sponcil and Claes would finish fifth, only bowing out to the No. 3 ranked team in the country, Brazil’s Agatha and Duda.
It was a momentous event for the two, especially when considering the difficulty of advancing from the country quota to the quarterfinals. The finish pushed them closer to Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and Brooke Sweat, whom Sponcil and Claes will have to pass in order to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. This is no small feat. Walsh Jennings is the greatest player of all time, maybe one of the most dominant athletes in any sport, with three gold medals and a bronze, in 2016. Sweat, too, has Olympic experience, and years and years and years of winning under their belt.
But Sponcil and Claes have youth on their side. They have momentum. The tournament that nearly ended prematurely became a vital one to their Olympic race.
Next on the schedule is a three-tournament series in Cancun, Mexico, on back to back to back weekends. It’ll likely decide the fate of the Olympic race. Riding the momentum of Doha, Sponcil and Claes are just getting started.
