RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – The U.S.
Olympic Women’s Volleyball Team, ranked No. 1 the world, was energized
by its bench play Friday after as it defeated Italy 25-22, 25-22, 23-25,
25-20 during the Olympic Games Pool B being staged at Maracanazinho
Arena in Rio de Janeiero, Brazil.
The
Americans, now 4-0 in Pool B with 11 points and in first place,
conclude pool play against the world’s No. 3 China on Sunday at 4:05
p.m. ET. Team USA, though already qualified for the Aug. 16
quarterfinals following its victory over Serbia on Wednesday, is aiming
to grab the top seed from Pool B.
Earlier today China lost to Serbia 25-19, 25-19, 25-22 to fall to 2-2
with seven points. Serbia is now in second place with a 3-1 record and
nine points. Serbia challenges fourth-place Netherlands on the final day
of pool play prior to the USA’s match against China. A Team USA win
will secure the top spot in the Pool B heading into the quarterfinals.
However, an American loss to China means Serbia can slip into the top
seed with a win over Netherlands despite having lost to the U.S. earlier
this week.
The top four teams from the two six-team pools advance to the
quarterfinals with the top seeds
crossing over to play the opposite
pool’s fourth seed. A drawing of lots following pool play will determine
crossover matches for the pool’s second- and third seeds.
Team USA had four players in double figures scoring against Italy and another three players with at least six points. Middle Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Florida) chipped in a team-high 14 points with 13 kills on 22 attacks and a block. Outside hitter Kim Hill (Portland, Oregon) contributed 12 kills on 32 swings and a key ace for 13 points in the victory. Middle Rachael Adams (Cincinnati, Ohio) pocketed 10 points with nine kills on 13 swings and a block.
Team USA broke an 11-all tie in the opening set with a 7-3 scoring
run to open up an 18-14 advantage en route to a 25-22 victory. The
Americans used a 6-1 spurt to build a 13-7 lead in the second set, but
Italy cut its deficit to one at 17-16. The U.S. used a late 4-0 scoring
run to win the set 25-22. Italy charged out to a 16-8 lead in the third
set, but had to withstand a furious American comeback to win the set
25-23 and send the match to a fourth set. With the score tied 20-all in
the fourth set, Team USA scored the final five points of the set for the
25-20 victory.
The American bench provided the spark in the third and fourth sets as Karsta Lowe
(Rancho Santa Fe, California) started the fourth set after serving as
the double-sub opposite early on. She turned in 12 points, all kills on
21 swings. Outside hitter Kelsey Robinson
(Bartlett, Illinois), who has been a back row specialist in the first
three matches of the Olympic Games, came into the front row mid-way
through the third set and quickly made a difference with eight kills on
17 attacks and a block.
“I take a lot of pride in being able to be a spark plug and energy
maker," Robinson said. "Me and Karsta and everyone in the box, we all
have the built up energy and ready to go. Typically I just think if I
can pass well and be in system, that is my job – maybe to turn a couple
balls on defense,” Robinson said. “Alisha was getting me getting me good
one-on-ones and made it easy to score.”
Outside Jordan Larson (Hooper, Nebraska) collected seven points with five kills, one block and one ace. Opposite Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Illinois) tallied six points with five kills and a block. Setter Alisha Glass (Leland, Michigan) scored two kills and Courtney Thompson (Kent, Washington) rounded out the scoring with an ace in her serving specialist role.
The U.S. converted 43.7 percent of its attacks with a .278 hitting
efficiency (66-24-151) as Glass was credited with 45 running sets on 96
set attempts and Carli Lloyd
(Bonsall, California) added five running sets on 10 chances as the
setter in the double-sub. In contrast, Team USA’s defense held Italy to a
34.6 kill percent and .197 hitting efficiency (44-19-127).
“Everybody had really nice contributions today,” U.S. Olympic Women’s
Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly said. “We have a team that has a lot of
people who have played a lot over the last two, three seasons. We have a
great deal of trust in them to come in. Kelsey was really good off the
bench, Karsta was good off the bench. One of Courtney’s job is to be
ready to come in and serve some tough serves off the bench with the ace
and the near ace. And once we took Kim out, she was ready to be a
serving sub and she came in and served an ace. We needed every one of
those points in the fourth set. Carli made some amazing plays when it
was her chance. And Christa Dietzen,
who did not get in the game but serves as our captain, provides some
really valuable leadership during the timeouts and generally throughout
the match. Even when people do not get in the match, they make an
impact.”
Team USA libero Kayla Banwarth
(Dubuque, Iowa) tallied a team-high 10 digs and had 11 excellent
receptions on 15 chances. Larson was credited with 13 excellent
receptions on 29 errorless chances.
Italy out-blocked the Americans 14-5, but Team USA’s offense clicked
otherwise as it held a 66-44 kill advantage. The U.S. also held a slim
3-1 ace margin. Both teams committed errors at a high rate as the
Americans had 30 and Italy 24.
Robinson, Glass and Adams all played on the Italian club team
Conegliano this past winter that won the Italian Serie A1 championship
that included three members of the Italian Olympic Team. And that
provided some extra motivation for the team.
“I know them all pretty well,” Robinson said. “It is fun to play people you know, familiar faces.”
Since the U.S. lost to Italy in the 2014 FIVB World Championship
Finals Round pool play on Oct. 8, Team USA has won six tournaments
including that very World Championship. The U.S. holds an overall 67-9
record since that loss. During that run, Team USA is 2-0 against Italy
including a win in the 2015 FIVB World Grand Prix Finals round robin.
USA is 16-2 in its last 16 Olympic Games matches dating back to Aug.
13, 2008. The only two losses have been to Brazil in the gold-medal
match of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Team USA has never won Olympic gold in women’s indoor volleyball
despite being on the cusp on several occasions. The U.S. finished with
the silver in each of the last two Olympics in 2008 and 2012, falling to
Brazil both times in the gold-medal match. The Americans also earned
silver at the 1984 Olympic Games, followed by bronze in 1992. In fact,
Team USA has garnered only one gold medal in any of the three major
volleyball tournaments (Olympics, FIVB World Championship and FIVB World
Cup), and that was only two years ago when the Americans broke through
and earned the 2014 FIVB World Championship title in Italy.
The U.S. gained a 4-1 lead early in the opening set as Italy
committed three straight errors. Italy answered with two straight points
to close the gap to 4-3. Hill slammed a kill and Italy hit wide for its
fourth error of the set at 6-3. Italy sliced its deficit to one at 9-8.
Hill responded with two straight kills to lift the Americans in front
11-8, only to have Italy score three straight to level the score at
11-all. However, Italy committed consecutive errors to give the U.S. a
13-11 advantage. Akinradewo ended a long rally with an acrobatic looking
kill to stretch the American lead to 15-12. Adams slammed a kill and
Larson followed with a block to extend Team USA’s lead to 18-14. Italy
cut the deficit in half at 22-20 prompting a USA timeout. Team USA ended
the set at 25-22 with a Larson hammer off the block.
After Italy scored the first point of the second set, Team USA
reversed the lead to its side at 3-1 with a Murphy kill between two
Italian errors. The Americans stretched their lead to 5-2 with a Hill
kill and Italian error. However, Italy closed to within one at 7-6. Team
USA responded with kills from Adams and Larson to regain a three-point
cushion at 9-6. The American upped their lead to 13-7 with consecutive
kills from Adams, Murphy and Hill followed by a Larson kill leading into
an Italian timeout. Out of the break Italy went on a 4-1 run to close
the gap to 14-11. Italy continued to charge back and closed to one at
17-16. Team USA got its four-point cushion back at 22-18 with kills from
Adams and Hill around a Murphy block. Out of an Italian timeout, the
U.S. scored a fourth straight point at 23-18 with an Italian error.
Italy shaved closed to 24-22 and saved a set point before the Americans
won 25-22 on a service error.
Italy took a 4-1 advantage in the third set and increased its margin
to 8-3 with four unanswered points. Italy continued the momentum taking a
12-5 lead into Team USA’s second timeout. Italy extended its advantage
to 16-8 before Akinradewo and Robinson scored kills around an Italian
error to cut the deficit to 16-11. Out of an Italian timeout, Robinson
scored another kill to narrow the deficit to four at 16-12. After Italy
scored back-to-back points, Akinradewo slammed a kill and Adams hit on
overpass to move to within three 18-15. Italy scored back-to-back points
again, but the USA answered with kills from Murphy and Lowe to put the
score at 20-17. Lowe connected for consecutive kills to whittle the
American deficit it 21-19. Team USA cut the deficit to 23-22 with a
Robinson kill and Italy attack error, but the Americans couldn’t
complete the comeback as Italy won 25-23.
After Italy scored the first point of the fourth set, Lowe answered
with a kill and Robinson put up a block to put the Americans in front
2-1. Italy bounced back to take a 4-3 advantage and built a two-point
cushion at 6-4. Team USA responded with an Akinradewo kill tied the set
at 6-all with an Italian error. The Americans went back into the lead
with a Robinson kill and consecutive Lowe winners at 11-9. Italy bounced
back to tie the score again at 12-all. The Americans answered with a
Robinson kill and Hill ace to move in front 14-12, only to have Italy
score the next three points to take a 15-14 lead. Team USA went back
into the lead with consecutive Italian errors at 17-16. The Americans
gained a two-point cushion at 19-17 with a Lowe kill and Italian error.
Out of an Italian timeout, Italy committed another error to extend the
American lead to 20-17. However, Italy came back to score the next three
points to close to level the set again at 20-20. Robinson and Lowe
hammered back-to-back kills to yield a 22-20 margin for the Americans.
Akinradewo put up a block out of Italy’s second timeout to lift the
Americans in front 23-20. Thompson served an ace to give the Americans
match points at 24-20 and Italy promptly had an attack error at 25-20.
2016 U.S. Olympic Women's Volleyball Team
# - Name (Position, Height, Hometown, College)
1 – Alisha Glass (S, 6-0, Leland, Michigan, Penn State University)
2 – Kayla Banwarth (L, 5-10, Dubuque, Iowa, University of Nebraska)
3 – Courtney Thompson (S, 5-8, Kent, Washington, University of Washington)
5 – Rachael Adams (M, 6-2, Cincinnati, Ohio, University of Texas)
6 – Carli Lloyd (S, 5-11, Bonsall, California, University of California-Berkeley)
10 – Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Nebraska, University of Nebraska)
12 – Kelly Murphy (OPP, 6-2, Wilmington, Illinois, University of Florida)
13 – Christa Dietzen (M, 6-2, Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania, Penn State University)
15 – Kim Hill (OH, 6-4, Portland, Oregon, Pepperdine University)
16 – Foluke Akinradewo (M, 6-3, Plantation, Florida, Stanford University)
23 – Kelsey Robinson (OH, 6-2, Bartlett, Illinois, University of Nebraska
25 – Karsta Lowe (OPP, 6-4, Rancho Santa Fe, California, UCLA)
Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coaches: Jamie Morrison, Tom Black, David Hunt
Technical Coordinator: Joe Trinsey
Scout Coaches: Marv Dunphy, JJ Van Niel
Therapist/Trainer: Jill Wosmek
Elite Performance Psychologist: Dr. Michael Gervais
Doctor: Dr. Andrew Gregory
Strength Coach: James Stitz
Team Manager: Denise Sheldon
Team Journalist: Bill Kauffman
2016 Olympic Games Women’s Indoor Volleyball Pools
Pool A: Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, Japan, Korea, Russia
Pool B: China, Italy, Netherlands, Puerto Rico, Serbia, USA
2016 Olympic Games Women’s Indoor Volleyball Pool Schedule (Times Listed as ET)
Aug. 6
Korea def. Japan 19-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-21
Netherlands def. China 25-23, 21-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-13
Brazil def. Cameroon 25-14, 25-21, 25-13
USA def. Puerto Rico 25-17, 25-22, 25-17
Russia def. Argentina 25-13, 25-10, 25-16
Serbia def. Italy 27-25, 25-20, 25-23
Aug. 8
China def. Italy 25-21, 25-21, 25-16
Japan def. Cameroon 25-20, 25-15, 25-17
USA def. Netherlands 18-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 15-8
Serbia def. Puerto Rico 29-27, 25-18, 25-20
Russia def. Korea 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-14
Brazil def. Argentina 25-16, 25-19, 25-11
Aug. 10
China def. Puerto Rico 25-20, 25-17, 25-18
Netherlands def. Italy 25-21, 25-20, 25-20
USA def. Serbia 25-17, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19
Russia def. Cameroon 25-19, 25-22, 25-23
Korea def. Argentina 25-18, 25-20, 25-23
Brazil def. Japan 25-18, 25-18, 25-22
Aug. 12
Serbia def. China 25-19, 25-19, 25-22
Argentina def. Cameroon 19-25, 25-19, 26-28, 25-21, 15-13
USA def. Italy 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20
Netherlands vs. Puerto Rico, 4:05 p.m.
Russia vs. Japan, 7:30 p.m.
Brazil vs. Korea, 9:35 p.m.
Aug. 14
Serbia vs. Netherlands, 8:30 a.m.
Korea vs. Cameroon, 10:35 a.m.
Italy vs. Puerto Rico, 2 p.m.
USA vs. China, 4:05 p.m.
Japan vs. Argentina, 7:30 p.m.
Brazil vs. Russia, 9:35 p.m.
Aug. 16
Quarterfinals
Aug. 18
Semifinals
Aug. 20
Gold- and Bronze-Medal Matches
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