To be honest, I can’t even focus on your questions because all I’m thinking about is that I want a chance to stay alive in this tournament. – Jake Gibb
RIO DE JANEIRO — With a spike from a team they swept in the first match of the tournament, the Olympic medal hopes of Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson shattered.
After losing 2-1 to Spain on a windy, wet Wednesday morning, the sixth-seeded Americans had to wait to see if Austria could beat Qatar before they knew if their Olympic quest would continue or end in a match that was not theirs to win.
After losing 19-21, 21-16, 7-15 to Spain’s Pablo Herrera and Adrian Gavira, Patterson declined to meet with reporters and Gibb was gracious but distracted.
“To be honest, I can’t even focus on your questions because all I’m thinking about is that I want a chance to stay alive in this tournament,” said Gibb, who finished with six blocks in the match. “We fought. That’s what we do. That’s what this team does. That’s what we’ve done for four years together. We fight. And we gave it everything we have. It totally blows that we have to sit here and watch this next match to see if we’re still alive in this tournament. It’s just how it is.”
The duo watched with a large contingent of family and friends, as well as their coach, Tyler Hildebrand, as their medal opportunity slipped away. The weather seemed an appropriate backdrop to the sadness and shock that washed over their families and fans.
Spain served well from the get-go, despite strong, cool wind.
“It was really windy down there,” Gibb said. “And they were bombing jump serves. So it came down to that.”
Gibb and Patterson led the Spaniards 19-15 in the first set, but the experienced duo battled back to take the first set from the Americans 21-19.
Adrian Gavira was overjoyed, not just with the result, but because he was able to compete.
“It was a great win because yesterday, I didn’t know if we were going to play,” Gavira said. “I’ve had some problems with my right knee, and I had some problems during the game with my power, but the Spanish medical team did an awesome job of helping me.”
Team USA came back with a vengeance in the second set, led by Patterson’s serving. He had three consecutive aces to give the duo enough momentum to win 21-16. But the third set started rough for Gibb and Patterson, as they fell behind 5-2. They battled back behind smart hitting by Patterson, who finished 13 of 22, and Gibb’s play at the net. Ironically, there was an issue with a call at the net when the score was 5-2 that caused the crowd to shift squarely behind Spain’s team.
Gibb and Patterson argued that not only was the call not reviewable, but the issue was with whether his block was a fourth touch. He argued that it was a “joust” — which means he’s contesting an opponent at the net, and by rule, that doesn’t count as one of the three allowable touches per side.
“I thought it was a bad call, but we didn’t lose the match because of that call,” he said. “It’s one call. Sure, it was a big call, but that did not determine the game.”
Gibb said they did most of what they wanted in coming back from a loss Monday.
“We wanted to focus on two things,” he said. “We wanted to focus on more aggressive serving, which we did, and timing on our blocks. I think we did that.”
And then, he said, for the second time in just a few minutes, “To be honest, all I can think about is this freaking match that’s going on right now.”
He joined Patterson and their families in the stands to watch the final match of their pool.
Austria won the first set 21-18, but then Qatar came back and won the next two — 21-19, 15-12 — to take the match and the opportunity to continue playing for a medal.