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Posted - 08/30/2010 : 1:37:17 PM
U.S. Women Golden at World Grand Prix, Defeat Japan
http://usavolleyball.org/news/2010/08/29/u-s-women-golden-at-world-grand-prix-defeat-japan/38280?ngb_id=2
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 29, 2010) – Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) scored a team-high 15 points to lead the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team to a 26-24, 25-20, 25-23 victory over Japan Sunday afternoon to secure the gold medal at the 18th FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round being played at Ningbo, China. The FIVB World Grand Prix is the premier annual international women’s volleyball event.
The U.S. finished the six-team, five-day round-robin Final Round with a 5-0 record and 13 points to capture its third FIVB World Grand Prix title. The Americans, who have won 11 matches in a row, also won the event in 1995 and 2001. In addition, Team USA had not reached the tournament’s medal podium since back-to-back bronze finishes in 2003 and 2004. Further, the U.S. has now medaled in all three of its 2010 tournaments including a silver at the 26th Montreux Volley Masters and bronze at the Pan American Cup both played in June.
During the Final Round, the U.S. rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat Poland in five sets in the opener on Aug. 25. The Americans followed with a convincing three-set victory over Italy on Aug. 26, then a thrilling five-set victory over two-time World Grand Prix defending champion Brazil on Aug. 27. Team USA topped host China in three sets on Aug. 28. The U.S. reached the Final Round by finishing second in the nine-match preliminary round with a 7-2 record, including the final six matches that had wins over Italy and China among the Final Round participants.
Entering its final match of the tournament, the U.S. needed a win over Japan or at least reach the fifth set to guarantee the gold medal despite having a two-match advantage over Brazil. An American loss in three or four sets could have allowed Brazil (2-2, 8 points), who plays host China (2-2, 6 points) at 7 p.m. (4 a.m. Pacific Time) later today, to back-door into the title through the complicated point system being utilized for the tournament. Teams earn three points for a three- or four-set victory, two points for a five-set victory and one point for a five-set loss. In addition to the Brazil-China match, Italy (1-3, 4 points) faces Poland (1-3, 4 points) at 3:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m. Pacific Time).
The U.S. recovered from an early 12-7 deficit to Japan in the opening set with an 8-1 scoring run to take a 15-13 lead, but needed to overcome a late 23-21 deficit and a set point to win 26-24. Team USA overcame a 4-1 deficit in the second set to tie the score at 6-all, then used an 8-2 scoring spurt to take a 16-11 advantage en route to a 25-20 victory. The U.S. overcame a 16-14 deficit in the third set with a 10-3 scoring run to reach match point at 24-19, then weathered Japan saving four match points before winning 25-23.
“I'm really proud of my team, not only for winning this tournament, but also for the way they were playing,” U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) said. “It's a tough match against Japan. We were happy we won. I'm very happy with our performance at the tournament. This is a great start for us, but we clearly know we need to make improvement.”
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