ETCHED IN HISTORY - MBO CHAMPIONS
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After a very emotional, mental and physical past week and a half, we are leaving California with our names figuratively etched on the Manhattan Beach pier as it will officially happen in about 365 days before the MBO 2025 event.
Practice leading up to this event felt weird. Flying to the event felt weird. Warming up for our first match felt weird. All we knew 3 weeks prior to this moment was competing with the underlying goal of wanting to be our best for the Olympics. Well, the 2024 Olympics are in the past.
Competing in this event was always up in the air regardless of how the Olympics went, but with our early exit from Paris I thought it would be best for us to get back to competing to give our brains something else to think about. Also, it’s the Manhattan Beach Open. I was finding it very difficult to not compete for the opportunity to etch our names on the pier. Taryn on the other hand was thinking the opposite. After a back and forth discussion, she said, “why not? Let’s do it.”
We strolled into stadium court around 6:45 Friday morning to a court that was still being set up, chairs with dew on them and the sun just peaking out of the clouds. It was EARLY. Since the provided breakfast did not start until 7:30am, we made an 8 min walk from our hotel to the nearby Starbucks and Noah’s Bagels in the darkness for coffee and fuel. Sitting in the players box and not looking up to see the Eiffel Tower felt weird… what a strange sentence. We were discussing this strangeness with announcer Mark who was also the MC for the Olympics.
I vividly remember competing in MBO 2021 and matching up against April and Alix right after they returned as gold medalists from the Olympics. I would go back to serve and be like woah, I just watched them on TV and now I’m serving them. Now in 2024, we were on the flip side. We had two young up and coming college girls serving us after recently watching us on TV. Fleming after the match in the athlete tent was telling me she was joking with her partner Donley saying, “hey, at least we have recently watched them a ton. We have some solid film on them.” I believe that is exactly what Taryn and I were saying when matched up against April and Alix. Match 1 W - 21-10 & 21-13.
The energy of our first match back competing had worn off for the second match of the day. We were struggling for energy and we were in a battle against Loreen/Robinson. They were a smaller yet scrappy and precise team. Thankfully, we were able to rattle off a coupe points at keys times and make it into Saturday unscathed. Match 2 W - 21-18 & 21-17. Taryn and I both thought it was so crazy but cool that after the match Loreen and Robinson approached us with pure excitement at the fact they got to compete against us. They also expressed how much they love watching us play especially since they are non Californians as well.
Since our games were super early we were done for the day and it was only 12:30. We had a Slunks autograph session at 3 so we quickly went back to our hotel to rinse off and then head back to the beach. This is one of the downfalls of the MBO… hotels are so far away so I say quick but in total it took about 45 minutes total travel time.
We love a good routine so when our first match Saturday was slated for 8am again, we knew exactly what we were doing - Starbucks and Noahs. We were playing a familiar duo in Rodriguez/Urango. We were definitely not sharp and my costly double on Taryn’s fantastic dig was a big play in forcing the game to go 3. If I do not double that set we probably walk away with a 2 set victory. At that moment, I had to put it in the past and focus on taking the deciding set, but now I can reflect and kick myself for that mistake. Sorry Taryn! Match 3 W - 21-17 & 24-26 & 15-12.
Like previously stated, the hotel distance is not ideal in MBO so with our 3 hours before our next game we decided it was best to hangout in the athlete tent instead of trekking all the way back to the hotel only to return shortly after.
Winner’s bracket quarterfinal game - it’s a huge one. You either punch your ticket into Sunday or you have to stay and play another match with a short turnaround time. Kraft/Cannon have been a very hot team as of late. They had medaled in their past two Elite 16 events and had made light work of their 3 prior matches in the MBO. We still did not play our best but our game was definitely elevated from the game prior and allowed us to cruise to a 2 set victory and into the semifinals. Match 4 W - 21-16 & 21-16. After some autographs and pictures we hit the athlete tent for a quick snack before our meet and greet at the Dermalogica tent. When we walked up there was a line waiting for us… unreal. After about an hour of pictures and signing, the esthetician on site cleaned Taryn and I faces in addition to examining our skin and providing us with amazing skin knowledge.
📸: Bryan Malloch
We were so tired that UberEats was the move for dinner. Showering and staying in pjs was definitely the right call. We had a lovely picnic on the hotel room floor enjoying our delicious breakfast for dinner from North End Cafe.
Championship Sunday! Taryn woke up super congested and coughing nonstop. It was the worst she had woken up feeling all tournament but when it’s Sunday at MBO you force yourself to do whatever it takes. With the men and women finals being live on ION, the AVP was stressed when the men’s match between the Olympians went 3 sets. If our game would have gone 3 sets the live window would have been missed which is why prior to our match we were only given about 1 minute on the court for warmups. After our 2 set victory, the AVP staff could breathe again. They were back on track and we were one win away from etching our names in history. Match 5 W - 21-17 & 21-14.
Championship match - First set was rough. Scoles/Flint always come out fiery and we struggled to match that. They deserved that set. We needed energy. We needed sideouts. We needed some defensive plays. It wasn’t pretty and it was a neck and neck set two but we managed to come away with a couple key points at the end of set 2. One game to 15 to determine who goes on the pier. We also went over the live 1 hour coverage time so the AVP had to fork out some money to secure the viewing of the third set. In between sets I told Taryn, “they should not have let us win that second set.” I was fired up. 15 points for history. Our game leveled out and we were finally settled in and playing like us. Taryn secured an overpass on match point which she threw down and shortly after I was leaping into her arms… AVP MBO CHAMPIONS.
Taryn has only been following this tournament for the past 4 years. I have been following this event for about 10-15 years. The significance of this one cannot be topped. Forever etched in history. Iconic.
After being carried into Shellbacks, enjoying our favorite burgers from Ercoles, picking up Bolt cookies and showering we were laying in bed completely exhausted yet unable to sleep. Alcohol, desserts, or the pure elation always makes sleep very very challenging post tournament.
Like I stated in my Instagram post… this one was special. This one was needed. One dream cut short and another achieved in the span of two weeks.
Now it’s time to reflect as Olympians and MBO Champions.
By: Kristen Nuss
