COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 21, 2010) – Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) scored a match-high 16 points in leading the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team to a fifth straight victory with a 25-16, 25-16, 25-16 win over Thailand on Saturday afternoon in Hong Kong during Pool G of the 18th FIVB World Grand Prix.
Team USA, now 6-2 in this year’s FIVB World Grand Prix and with 18 points, concludes the tournament preliminary round on Aug. 22 at 12:45 a.m. Pacific Time against China. Earlier this year, the Chinese defeated the Americans in the Montreux Volley Masters gold-medal match on June 13 in Switzerland. China is ranked second in the world by the FIVB, while the U.S. is ranked fourth.
The U.S. has already qualified for the FIVB World Grand Prix six-team Final Round to be held Aug. 25-29 at Ningbo, China, after clinching a spot on Aug. 20. Team USA has not played in the FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round since 2008 when it finished fourth. The Americans have not reached the World Grand Prix podium since bronze medal finishes in 2003 and 2004. The U.S. won the World Grand Prix in 1995 and 2001, its only other podium finishes.
The U.S. opened the match with a 6-1 lead in the first set and went on to win 25-16, despite Thailand coming back to within two at 8-6. Team USA used an 8-3 spurt to break free from an 8-7 advantage and cruised to a 25-16 victory. The Americans scored nine of 10 points in a key point of the third set to take a 21-11 advantage and never looked back in a 25-16 victory.
“The Thailand team is a very good team,” U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) said. “We respect them a lot as they played late last night and have to play early today. Our team played well. Our job is to win, but our goal is to get a good team together and continue to improve both individually and as a team. China is a strong team and we will prepare as usual. It’s hard to say who will win tomorrow, but we expect it will be a good match.”
Larson collected 13 kills on 22 swings with just one error, two blocks and an ace for her 16 points as the U.S. spread its scoring to nine different players in the match. Destinee Hooker (San Antonio, Texas) notched six kills on 15 attacks, two blocks and an ace for nine points. Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.) chipped in six kills on seven errorless attacks and a block for seven points. Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) charted three kills on four attempts, two blocks and an ace for six points. Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah) scored four kills and a block, while Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.) pocketed three kills on five attempts, one block and an ace for five points. Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) tacked on three kills and an ace for four points. Jennifer Tamas (Milpitas, Calif.) scored three kills on four attacks in the third set, while Ogonna Nnamani (Bloomington, Ill.) rounded out the scoring with two blocks.
Glass provided 10 running sets on 49 attempts in running the U.S. offense. Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.) charted a team-high 13 digs to go with 10 excellent receptions on 11 errorless attempts. Larson added 13 excellent receptions on 18 errorless attempts to go with five digs.
“It’s a very nice match and we enjoyed the game,” said Tamas, who is the U.S. captain for this year’s FIVB World Grand Prix. “The Thai team is very challenging. Its attack and block are very good. We look forward to tomorrow’s match and hope to continue to improve. Our win today is due to the whole team’s contribution.”
McCutcheon started Tom and Larson at outside hitter, Akinradewo and Bown at middle blocker, Hooker at opposite and Glass at setter. Davis was the designated libero for the match. Nellie Spicer (Barrington, Ill.) and Nnamani were subbed in all three sets as double-subs. Hodge subbed into the second set for Tom and started the third set. Tamas started the third set in place of Bown, while Cynthia Barboza (Long Beach, Calif.) was a sub in the third set.
Team USA out-blocked Thailand 11-2 and held a 5-1 margin in aces. The Americans also had a 41-33 advantage in kills and limited its errors to 12 for the entire match. The U.S. converted 48.8 percent of its attacks into kills with a .440 hitting efficiency and just four attack errors, thanks in part to 30 excellent service receptions on 39 attempts. Thailand committed 18 errors in the match and converted just 32.4 percent of its attacks into kills as part of a .186 hitting efficiency. The U.S. held a 25-17 dig margin.
Team USA defeated Thailand earlier in the 2010 FIVB World Grand Prix with a convincing 25-18, 25-21, 25-13 victory on Aug. 14 in Thailand.
Malika Kanthong led Thailand with 11 points, all on kills. Onuma Sittirak added nine points in the loss.
“Congratulations to the USA team,” Thailand Head Coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai said. “They played very well and it was a very good game. Our team was not too good today because we played a difficult match last night and physically they are not strong enough. We made errors in reception and skills. Our team learned a lot. We will try to improve our skills and minimize our errors in the future. We wish the USA team good luck in tomorrow’s match.”
Earlier today, Netherlands (4-4, 11 points) defeated Dominican Republic 25-19, 25-22, 25-20 in Pool I at Tokyo. Later today, Poland (6-1, 18 points) plays Puerto Rico (1-6, 3 points) and Brazil (6-1, 18 points) takes on Chinese Taipei at Taipei, Chinese Taipei in Pool H. Japan (6-1, 18 points) hosts Italy (5-2, 15 points) in a battle of Final Round participants at Tokyo, while China (5-2, 16 points) hosts Germany (2-5, 7 points) in Hong Kong.
For the latest news on the FIVB World Grand Prix, visit the U.S. Women’s National Team FIVB World Grand Prix event web site at usavolleyball.org/events/3056. The page includes archived press releases, schedule and results involving all 12 World Grand Prix teams, photos, statistics and match videos by Universal Sports.
The U.S. went in front 4-1 with kills by Glass and Hooker, followed by a Glass block and kill leading to a Thailand timeout. After the break, the U.S. scored a fifth and sixth straight point with a Thailand error and Tom kill. Thailand stopped the run with two points of its own to close to within three at 6-3. Thailand scored the first two points after the first technical timeout to close to two at 8-6. Team USA gained a four-point cushion at 11-7 with an Akinradewo kill and Larson block. The U.S. increased its margin to 13-8 with kills from Larson and Glass. Thailand scored the next two points to move the score to 14-11. Larson connected for a kill and Akinradewo put up a block after a Thailand service error to push the American advantage to 19-13. Hooker served an ace after a Larson kill to send the score to 22-15. Larson gave the U.S. set points with an ace after a Thailand service error at 24-16. The U.S. ended the set at 25-16 with a Thailand attack error, its seventh error of the set. Larson paced the American offense in the first set with seven points, while Glass chipped in four points from her setter position. Team USA held its errors to just two. The U.S. had a 3-2 margin in blocks and 2-0 edge in aces.
Bown scored a kill and ace to give the U.S. an early 3-1 lead in the second set, but Thailand quickly tied the set at 3-all. Akinradewo and Larson turned in consecutive kills to yield a 6-4 U.S. lead. The Americans jumped their lead to three points with a Bown kill and Thailand error at 10-7. Team USA stretched its margin to 12-8 with a Thailand service error and Tom block. The U.S. gained a 14-9 advantage with a Glass ace after a Thailand service error. Team USA went into the second technical timeout leading 16-10 with an Akinradewo overpass kill after a Hooker kill. Out of the break, Thailand scored the next two points to close the deficit to 16-12. Team USA responded with an Akinradewo kill and Hooker block at 18-12 prompting a Thailand timeout. Larson pocketed consecutive kills to increase the American advantage to 20-13. Bown picked up a block and Hodge scored a kill on her first play of the match to give the U.S. a 22-14 lead. The U.S. added to the run with a Nnamani block that Thailand could not cover cleanly, followed by a Hodge block at 24-14. Thailand saved two set points before Hodge scored her third kill of the set to close it out at 25-16. Bown scored five points to lead the U.S. in the second set as the Americans netted four blocks and two aces.
Team USA scored three unanswered points with two kills from Akinradewo and one from Larson to give the U.S. a 5-2 lead. The Americans went up by four points at 9-5 with a Thailand service error and Glass block. Thailand cut into the deficit with an ace at 11-9. Akinradewo and Larson put up consecutive kills and Larson followed with a block to yield a 15-10 U.S. lead. Hodge served an ace at 16-10 for the Americans’ fourth straight point. Hooker and Larson collected consecutive kills to extend the Team USA lead to 18-11. Out of a Thailand timeout, Larson added another kill and Hooker put up a block at 20-11. Tamas added another block for the fifth straight point at 21-11. Thailand stopped the run with two points of its own at 21-13. Thailand cut the deficit to seven points at 23-13 with back-to-back points. Team USA answered with a Tamas kill and Nnamani block to end the set at 25-16. Larson provided the U.S. with six points in the third set and the Americans scored four blocks in the period.
Volleyball fans across the world will be able to watch three FIVB World Grand prix matches a week as FIVB TV announced on Aug. 5 that it will stream matches on the Internet. One match per day from the three preliminary rounds as well as all matches form the Final Round will be streamed live on www.laola1.tv/en/int/fivb/video/203---.html. The USA-Italy match on Aug. 13 was shown live as part of the package, while the USA-China contest on Aug. 22 rounds out the preliminary round coverage. As a note, the FIVB TV matches cannot be viewed in most locations within the United States based on negotiated broadcast rights.
Fans in the United States can watch all remaining USA matches on Universal Sports (www.universalsports.com), on a tape delayed same-day coverage. Selected matches will also be shown on Universal’s television channel. All matches will be on-demand after they take place. To find out if Universal is in your home area and its daily schedule, click here.
For more information on the U.S. Women's National Team, visit its home page by clicking here.
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster for FIVB World Grand Prix Pool D (Hong Kong)# - Name (Pos, Ht, Hometown, College)
1 - Ogonna Nnamani (OPP, 6-1, Bloomington, Ill., Stanford)
2 - Alisha Glass (S, 6-0, Leland, Mich., Penn State)
5 - Stacy Sykora (L, 5-10, Burleson, Texas, Texas A&M)
6 - Nicole Davis (L, 5-4, Stockton, Calif., Southern California)
7 - Heather Bown (MB, 6-3, Yorba Linda, Calif., Hawaii)
8 - Cynthia Barboza (OH, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Stanford)
9 - Jennifer Tamas (MB, 6-4, Milpitas, Calif., Pacific)
11 - Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Neb., Nebraska)
14 - Nicole Fawcett (OPP, 6-4, Zanesfield, Ohio, Penn State)
15 - Logan Tom (OH, 6-1, Salt Lake City, Utah, Stanford)
16 - Foluke Akinradewo (MB, 6-3, Plantation, Fla., Stanford)
17 - Nellie Spicer (S, 5-9, Barrington, Ill., UCLA)
18 - Megan Hodge (OH, 6-3, Durham, N.C., Penn State)
19 - Destinee Hooker (OPP, 6-4, San Antonio, Texas, Texas)
Head Coach: Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Assistant Coach: Karch Kiraly (San Clemente, Calif.)
Assistant Coach: Jim Stone (Columbus, Ohio)
Technical Coordinator: Jamie Morrison (Dana Point, Calif.)
Athletic Trainer/Medical Support: Jill Wosmek (Silver Lake, Minn.)
Team Leader for Poland/Thailand: Reed Sunahara (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Team Leader for Hong Kong/Ningbo: Laurel Iversen (Kalaheo, Hawaii)
FIVB World Grand Prix Standings
Brazil (18 Points) 6-1 - Aug. 21 vs. Chinese Taipei
Japan (18 Points) 6-1 - Aug. 21 vs. Italy
Poland (18 Points) 6-1 - Aug. 21 vs. Puerto Rico
China (16 Points) 5-2 - Aug. 21 vs. Germany
USA (18 Points) 6-2
Italy (15 Points) 5-2 - Aug. 21 vs. Japan
Netherlands (11 Points) 4-4
Germany (7 Points) 2-5 - Aug. 21 vs. China
Dominican Republic (5 Points) 2-6
Thailand (3 Points) 1-7
Puerto Rico (3 Points) 1-6 - Aug. 21 vs. Poland
Chinese Taipei (0 Points) 0-7 - Aug. 21 vs. Brazil
NOTE: Matches won 3-0 or 3-1 earn the winners 3 points; Matches won 3-2 earn the winner 2 points and the loser 1 point
SPECIAL THANKS TO: USA Volleyball for this Update in our Ladies Team.
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