Reports From USA Volleyball & Bill Kauffman
In a battle of pool undefeated teams, the U.S. Women’s National Team stopped Trinidad & Tobago 25-17, 25-9, 25-11 Sunday evening during the IX Women’s Pan American Cup being held jointly in the neighboring Mexico towns of Tijuana and Rosarita. Long Beach Wilson’s
Team USA improves to 3-0 during the Pan American Cup Pool B competition, while the surprising Trinidad & Tobago team falls to 2-1. The U.S., the only undefeated team left in Pool B, continues action on Monday against Costa Rica (0-2 before Sunday night’s match against Mexico) at 6 p.m. in Rosarita before concluding pool play on June 22 against host Mexico at 7 p.m. in Tijuana.
The U.S. used a 7-1 scoring run to break free from a 6-5 advantage in the opening set to win 25-17. Team USA produced an 11-2 scoring spurt in the second set to take an 18-6 margin en route to a 25-9 win. The Americans claimed a 12-3 lead in the third set on an 11-1 scoring run and never allowed Trinidad back into the set with a 25-11 victory.
“Trinidad showed us a different kind of game,” U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) said. “They have very athletic players, and after the first set we had to make some adjustments and kept playing hard the entire match. Because if you stop playing hard, you give the power of the ball to your rival, that was happened in the first set.”
The Pan American Cup is a qualifying event into the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix. The top three teams from NORCECA during the Pan American Cup earn berths into the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix, while the top side from South America also earns a berth.
Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) and Barboza scored 10 points and nine points, respectively, in the victory. Larson tallied eight kills on 17 attacks for a .470 hitting efficiency to go with a block and ace. Barboza tallied nine kills on 16 errorless swings for a .563 hitting efficiency. Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.) charted five kills on eight swings as part of a .500 attack efficiency with three blocks. Christa Harmotto (Aliquippa, Pa.) came off the bench to score seven points on a six kills via seven errorless attacks for an .857 hitting efficiency to go with a block. Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.) converted four of six attempts into kills for a .667 hitting efficiency to accompany a block for five points in the first set only. Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) totaled five points with three kills and two blocks. Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.) chipped in a block and ace in the victory.
The three middles combined to attack for 15 kills on 21 attacks and just one error for a .667 attack percentage. As a team, the U.S. converted 35 of 67 attacks into kills for a 52.2 kill percent and .463 hitting efficiency.
“We are happy for winning this match in three sets,” said Metcalf, who is serving as Team USA’s captain. “Trinidad is a very good team with good athletes. In the first set, it was very hard for us to stop them, but fortunately we kept the match on our side of the net.”
Stacy Sykora (Burleson, Texas) converted a team-high nine digs in the victory while adding five excellent service receptions on seven attempts. Barboza added five digs and a team-high nine excellent service receptions on 13 attempts. Team USA had 18 excellent service receptions on 29 attempts. Alisha Glass provided 15 running sets on 29 attempts, while Thompson chipped in five running sets on 23 attempts.
McCutcheon started Glass at setter, Metcalf at opposite, Akinradewo and Bown at middle blocker, and Larson and Barboza at outside hitter. Sykora was the designated libero for the match. Harmotto started the second and third sets in place of Akinradewo, while Thompson was the starting setter in the third set after being used as a sub in the first set with Ogonna Nnamani (Bloomington, Ill.) as part of a double-switch.
The U.S. out-blocked Trinidad & Tobago 9-2, while both teams had two aces. Team USA scored 35 points on kills, while limiting Trinidad & Tobago to 24 kills on 77 attacks as part of a 31.2 kill percent.
Trinidad & Tobago is playing in the Pan American Cup for the fourth consecutive year. Before this year, the team was winless in the previous three Pan American Cups. However, Trinidad & Tobago picked up its first two wins (3-0 wins versus Mexico on June 18 and Costa Rica on June 19) in tournament history before playing the U.S. Sunday evening.
Trinidadian Kelly-Anne Billingy scored a match-high 12 points and Krystle Esdelle added eight points in the loss.
“We fought on the beginning with no fear,” Trinidad and Tobago captain Krystle Esdelle. “We were fighting on the first set, but after that I don’t know what really happened to us.”
Earlier today in Pool B, Peru improved to 2-1 as it defeated Puerto Rico (1-2) 25-21, 25-22, 25-14. Later tonight in Pool B, Mexico (0-2) hosts Costa Rica (0-2) at 7 p.m. PT.
In Pool A, Argentina defeated a young Brazil team 25-13, 25-15, 25-22 and Cuba defeated Dominican Republic 31-29, 23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-12. Argentina improves to 2-0, while Brazil falls to 0-3. Brazil, which has qualified for 17 of the last 18 FIVB World Grand Prix events and won five of the last six events from 2004 to 2009, is in serious danger of not qualifying for the 2011 World Grand Prix. Brazil will not be able to defend its Pan American Cup champion. Cuba is now 3-0 in Pool A, while Dominican Republic is 1-1.
The U.S. grabbed an early 4-1 lead in the opening set with a Metcalf block followed by kills from Barboza and Bown as part of a 3-0 run. Trinidad & Tobago rallied with consecutive points to close to one at 4-3. Leading 6-5, the Americans pushed out to a 13-6 advantage on a 7-1 run that included a block and kill each from Larson and Akinradewo. After a Trinidad error, Akinradewo added a kill to extend the lead to eight points at 17-9. Back-to-back kills from Larson and Akinradewo increased the margin to 19-10. Trinidad fought back to within 20-13, only to have Akinradewo pound consecutive kills and Braboza add a block for set points at 24-13. Trinidad saved four set points, the last two on aces, before winning on a service error at 25-17. The U.S. recorded four blocks in the opening set and converted 46 percent of its attacks into points.
Bown and Barboza put up back-to-back kills to give the U.S. an early 4-2 advantage in the second set. Three consecutive Trinidad & Tobago errors extended the American margin to 7-3. Harmotto downed a kill between two Trinidad errors to push the score to 10-4. Larson slammed a kill of the block and Barboza scored a kill from the back row to increase the gap to seven points at 12-5. After a Trinidad timeout, Metcalf added to the run with a block at 13-5. Larson served a winner between kills from Harmotto and Metcalf to yield a 16-6 Team USA advantage at the second technical timeout. Barboza finished off a 5-0 scoring run at 18-6 with a kill. Team USA increased its lead to 20-7 with a Harmotto kill and Trinidad attack into the antenna. Barboza pounded a kill after a Trinidad service error to inch the lead to 22-9. Consecutive Bown kills gave the U.S. set points at 24-9, then Glass put up a block for the winner at 25-9. Team USA converted 62 percent of its 21 attacks into kills in the second set with just one error.
Barboza banged two kills around a Bown kill and Trinidad error during a 4-0 U.S. scoring run giving the Americans a 5-2 lead early in the third set. A Bown block and kill around a Trinidad error extended to American advantage to 8-3 at the first technical timeout. Out of the break, Thompson and Larson put up consecutive blocks followed by a Trinidad error and Bown kill to increase the lead to 12-3. Harmotto claimed a block after a Trinidad service error and the U.S. went into the second technical timeout with three unanswered points at 16-5 on a Larson kill. Harmotto followed a Larson kill with her own to give Team USA a 22-10 lead. Harmotto put down a kill from the slide, followed by a Thompson ace to put the U.S. at match points 24-11. Larson finished the match immediately with a kill at 25-11. The Americans converted 14 of 24 attack attempts into kills with just one error in the third set for a 58 kill percent and .542 hitting efficiency. Team USA added three blocks in the third set.