Wacholder, Youngs rally for AVP title

By Zak Brown, Camera Sports Writer
August 29, 2005

All pictures by Cliff Grassmick

On a picturesque set Sunday, featuring stars with Hollywood looks, the AVP followed it's most dramatic script.

It was the story of a local college star who comes home and makes it to the finals of the tournament that hasn't been in town for almost a decade. With a packed house of 5,500-plus fans cheering her on, she and her teammate face the heavy favorites on tour. After the black swimsuit-clad favorites win the first game, the local star rallies to win the second. But she falls behind late in the third. It looks like her valiant effort won't be enough.

But she comes back. And with each comeback point, the crowd erupts louder and louder. On championship point, the star winds up — and with the sun glistening behind her at Boulder Reservoir — hammers home the winner. She falls into the sand screaming with joy.

On her return to Boulder, former Colorado Buff Rachel Wacholder won the AVP Boulder Open in theatrical style. She and her partner, Elaine Youngs, beat the tour's darlings, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, 19-21, 21-19, 15-13. It was their third win this season, and it meant a lot to the home crowd's favorite.

"I don't know if I had an unusual college experience, but I loved it. I don't come back that much because it's so hard for me," Wacholder said. "I miss it that much."

Wacholder was at CU from 1993-96. She was named all-conference twice. She finished her career with 1,484 kills and led the team in aces and digs in 1995 and 1996.

After her triumphant win, she was congratulated by a mob of fans. One of them was Buffs coach Pi'i Aiu, who is taking the trophy back to campus. Wacholder gave it to him and the Buffs will display it proudly in their office.

"Obviously she's a great role model for the program," Aiu said. "She's made it at the big-time professional level. ... It's inspiring to watch her play."

If the Disneyesque story wasn't good enough, Wacholder's boyfriend won too. Sean Scott and his partner, Todd Rogers, won the men's bracket with a 21-16, 23-21 win over Jake Gibb and Stein Metzger.

"It's the best. When one of us wins, the other's usually a little disappointed," Scott said. "But it's great that we won on the same weekend."

Both of the women's teams had to play through the early rounds on Sunday, but that was essentially a formality. They only lost one game between them on the way to the finals, and Sunday was the sixth straight time the teams had met in the championship. They have each won three of them, but Walsh and May won three of the last four. To win again, they knew they'd have to do it against Wacholder and Youngs.

"They're a great team and the sport's been growing incrementally since we got into it four years ago," Walsh said. "It's been Rachel and Elaine and Misty and I."

After Walsh and May took the first game, Wacholder and Youngs tied the second at 3-3. They led for most of it after that, taking a 16-12 lead before Walsh and May, the 2004 Olympic gold medalists, called a timeout. The stop in momentum helped, as they climbed back to 16-15, even after a timeout from Wacholder and Youngs. Those two briefly took a two-point lead at 17-15, but Walsh scored to make it 18-17. That was as close as they would get as Wacholder spiked the ball for the win at 21-19.

"We were just more aggressive," said Wacholder, who joined with Youngs this year. "We know we can play with them."

The teams tied at 11 in the third game, and Wacholder gave her team the lead with a kill. A shot from Walsh and May's team went wide, but after a kill from May, Wacholder's team had just a 13-12 lead. Youngs made a big difference in the match with five blocks, but she came up big with a big kill to make it 14-12.

After that point, the crowd was on its feet and as loud as it had been all day. May did her best to quiet them and try to strike some doubt in Wacholder and Youngs with a kill. But Wacholder made sure it was a happy ending, following her tournament-winner with a hug from her teammate for the script's big finish.