Turner earns first AVP title
Knocks off Johnson-Jordan and Davis in the finals
Tyrah Turner captures her first AVP title.
SAN DIEGO, Calif., -- After winning a big sporting event most athletes like to celebrate by going to Disneyland. For Tyra Turner, celebrating her first AVP Tour title with partner Rachel Wacholder with a 21-16, 19-21 and 15-10 victory over the No. 2 seed of Jenny Johnson Jordan and Annett Davis will be commemorated by visiting a local San Diego attraction.
"I am going to Sea World, for real!" said Turner. "I have tickets and going tonight. It feels great and like Rachel said, every victory gives you a lot of confidence so for us it was something we were missing. We brought back two silver medals from playing overseas and we've been playing in the finals where we expect to be. To take a victory is wonderful."
The No. 5 seed beat the weekend's No. 1 seed of Jen Boss and April Ross 21-18, 15-21 and 15-12.
"Rachel and I want it every weekend but it is so difficult," said Turner. "This is the first time in a tournament that we had beaten everyone that was in the main draw, so we expected it, but knew we needed to play our game."
In the first game of the finals, it was the way they stayed focused on their game that helped them build a quick 5-1 lead. Johnson Jordan and Davis came back to eventually pull within two points at the 8-6 mark, but Turner and Wacholder were too strong.
"I'm just trying to play well, cut back on errors and do things I know how to do well and be consistent," said Turner. "That's what it takes to win. We know we can do it and have had glimpses of it for our team we want to be consistent and when we play that way that we can win. This really helps our confidence."
Turner and Wacholder may have had the momentum going for them from their game one win, but it was Johnson Jordan and Davis who would edge them out in the end to force a third game.
"I just tried to swing high because you can't swing low against Tyra because she will block it," said Johnson Jordan. "I just tried to go higher. Towards the end of the game, I think I did better with that."
Yet in the third game it was the combination of Turner and Wacholder rallying back from the second-game loss, staying focused on playing their game and Johnson Jordan and Davis struggling that gave the title to the No. 5 seed this weekend.
"We knew we could win and always know we can win," said Wacholder of their game-three pep talk. "It wasn't like we got crushed, I didn't side-out very well in the second game and I wanted to be aggressive. Jenny changed what she was doing offensively so we had to adjust. I never thought after we lost the second game, it was just about refocusing and do it."
"Maybe we didn't serve as tough as we did in previous games, didn't side-out as much, I got blocked a lot more in this match than any other match and just didn't take advantage of some opportunities to score points that we should have."
In the end, it was the team of Turner and Wacholder who claimed their first team title and created a special memory.
"I'll have that forever," said Wacholder on being part of Turner's first AVP title. "She deserves it and I haven't played great in the past few weeks. She is a player that should win more tournaments too. Hopefully some of them will be with me. I'm glad I could be part of it."