For Bourne and Gibb, 'it doesn't have to be that complicated'

Jake Gibb, in the immortal words of Ricky Bobby, didn’t know what to do with his hands (it's on the internet). Well, more accurately in this case, he didn’t know what to do with his feet.

Gibb and Tri Bourne are the newest team in this Olympic Games, the type for which there is no precedent. After Gibb’s usual partner, Taylor Crabb, tested positive for COVID-19, Bourne was flown in and the two were thrown together just a few days prior to their opening match against Italy. They’re still figuring things out, simple matters like who plays defence in transition, where sets should be in different situations, and, well, what on earth Gibb is supposed to do on the rare occasion he digs a ball.

Such was the situation, leading 22-21 in the second set over Swiss Mirco Gerson and Adrian Heidrich. It is, as has been noted many times over the broadcast, toasty in Tokyo, to the point that Bourne and Gibb were saving energy by split-blocking rather than have Gibb run to the net. So it was that Jake Gibb dug a cut shot on match point, and instead of giving himself an approach, or preparing to attack, he just, uh, well he just stood there.

“I dug it and I was like ‘Oh my gosh I’ve never done that before! What do I do now?’” Gibb said, laughing in his post-game interview with Dain Blanton. “I seriously didn’t move. I was like ‘Oh my God I’ve got it!’”

The result was a hilariously bad attempt at a high angle, which landed easily in Gerson’s lap. But the good news for American fans was that it gave Gibb enough time to get back to the net, playing the position he has played better than almost any other American in history. He soft-blocked a Heidrich shot, and Heidrich’s ensuing swing over the cover clipped the tape and trickled easily into Bourne’s lap.

Bourne is a little less of a stranger to the backcourt than Gibb, but still: he, too, has made his living at the net. But two years’ worth of split-blocking with Trevor Crabb is still two more years of defence than Gibb has played, and Bourne gave himself a comfortable approach before chopping a line off the fingers of Heidrich, sealing the match for the new American duo.

And that win ensured that they will have more time to do just that. With two victories on the ledger, Bourne and Gibb will be advancing from the pool play phase, no matter the result of their upcoming bout with Qataris Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan, who are also 2-0.

Teams like Samba and Tijan have been playing together for years. Spain’s Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera have played in more Olympics together than Bourne and Gibb have practices together. There are, it goes without saying, kinks to be worked out, like who blocks in transition, or what you do when you dig a cut shot on match point.

But as Bourne said afterwards: it’s still just volleyball, a sport these two know how to play as well as anyone on the planet. Bourne’s been playing for as long as he could walk, right alongside Taylor Crabb at the Outrigger Canoe Club. Tokyo marks Gibb’s fourth Olympics.

“We’ve played volleyball for years, and he’s played for what, three times as long as me?” Bourne said, laughing. “We have experience. We’ve done this before: pass, set, hit with different partners in the past. We have a lot of mutual respect for each other. It doesn’t have to be that complicated.”

Quick links:
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Schedule and results
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Beach volleyball
FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour
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