Team USA Opens Pan Am Cup with Win
Saturday, June 19, 2010 | Volleyball
With Florida Coach Mary Wise as team leader, the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team overcame a slow start to defeat Peru 27-25, 25-22, 25-17 on Friday afternoon to open the IX Women's Pan American Cup in Tijuana, Mexico.
The U.S. battled back from a 13-7 deficit in the first set to tie the score at 15-all, but need a second comeback to rally from a 20-16 deficit to win the opener 27-25. Team USA broke a 7-all tie in the second set with an 8-3 scoring run and held off Peru 25-22 in the middle stanza. The Americans never trailed in the third set, using a 6-2 scoring spurt to break a 3-all tie en route to a 25-17 victory to end the match.
"After a slow start we settled down and started to play better,” U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand said. “We found a way to win the first set against a team of Peru that played good volleyball."
Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.) led the U.S. scoring with 14 points, including nine kills on 15 swings, a team-high four blocks and an ace. Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) added 11 points via eight kills on 23 swings, two blocks and an ace. Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.) contributed seven kills on 10 errorless attacks to go with two blocks and an ace. Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) collected nine kills on 24 attacks to go with a block. Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) added seven kills on 17 attacks and a block. Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) tallied three kills on four errorless attacks, while Ogonna Nnamani (Bloomington, Ill.) rounded out the scoring with a kill.
McCutcheon started Glass at setter, Metcalf at opposite, Akinradewo and Bown at middle blocker, and Larson and Hodge at outside hitter. Sykora was the designated libero for the match. Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.), Cynthia Barboza (Long Beach, Calif.) and Nnamani all were subs in the first two sets.
Playing in her first official international match with the U.S. Women's National Team, Glass helped the Americans to the sweep by setting the team to a 46 kill percent and .323 hitting efficiency. Team USA out-blocked Peru 11-4 for the match, while holding a 3-1 advantage in aces and 44-37 margin in kills. Peru did have a 22-12 advantage in digs and was positive on 83 percent of its service receptions.
Peru's Yulissa Zamudio had a team-high 10 points in the losing effort, while Jessenia Ucedia added eight points.
The U.S., grouped in Pool B, continues action on Saturday afternoon against Puerto Rico at 3 p.m. PT at Tijuana. Other USA pool matches include June 20 and June 21 matches against Trinidad & Tobago and Costa Rica, respectively. Both are set for 6 p.m. PT at Rosarita, Mexico. The Americans conclude pool play against tournament host Mexico on June 22 at 7 p.m. PT in Tijuana. The Pan American Cup is a qualifying event into the 2011FIVB World Grand Prix.
After the U.S. gained the first two points of the opening set, Peru scored 13 of the next 18 points to grab a 13-7 lead. Hodge put up a kill and Bown followed with a block to slice the deficit to 13-9. Larson scored back-to-back kills to start a 5-0 run ending with three straight Peruvian errors. Peru answered with five of the next six points to establish a 20-16 lead. Akinradeow put down a fast attack for a point and was followed with a Peru error to close the gap in half at 20-18. After Peru sided out, the U.S. scored four unanswered points starting with an Akinradewo kill, a kill and block from Metcalf and an ace from Larson to yield a 22-21 advantage to the Americans. Hodge and Bown gave the U.S. set point opportunities at 24-23 and 25-24 with kills, but Peru answered the challenge both times. Bown gave the Americans their third set point try, which it converted at 27-25 thanks to a Peru attack error. Team USA scored three blocks in the opening set and converted just 35 percent of its attacks into points, but held Peru to a 30 kill percent and .148 hitting efficiency.
After the score was tied five times early in the second set, Akinradewo hammered a kill giving the U.S. an 8-7 lead going into the first technical timeout and Metcalf followed with a kill out of the break. Following a Peru point, Akinradewo claimed another kill, which followed by a Larson ace giving Team USA a 12-8 advantage. Hodge and Larson added to the advantage with back-to-back kills at 15-10, only to have Peru score three straight points to narrow the gap to 15-13. The U.S. regained a four-point cushion at 20-16 after Hodge put up a block following an Akinradewo kill. Peru trimmed the deficit back down to one point at 21-20, but Metcalf and Hodge slammed consecutive kills to present the Americans a 23-20 advantage. The teams traded points the rest of the way to 25-22 as Bown scored the final two U.S. points on kills. The U.S. converted 56 percent of its attacks into kills and had a .441 attack efficiency in the second set. Peru had a 57 kill percent in the second set to stay close.
Akinradewo served an ace after a Peru service error to give the U.S. a 2-0 advantage early in the third set. Peru scored three of the next four points to tie the set, but Bown put up a block at 6-3 after a Peru error. Akinradewo extended the American advantage to 9-5 with a kill and block on consecutive plays. Metcalf put up a block after a Larson kill giving the U.S. an 11-6 advantage. The U.S. increased its advantage to eight at 18-10 on a block and ace by Bown sandwiched around kills from Glass and Larson. After Peru trimmed two points off with consecutive points, Larson collected a kill and block to push the U.S. in front 20-12. Akinradewo stuffed Peru at 22-13 after a Peru attack error. Peru scored four of the next five points to close to 23-17, but had consecutive errors to give the U.S. a 25-17 victory. Team USA had six blocks in the third period as it converted 56 percent of its attacks into points and took advantage of 10 Peru errors.
U.S. Women's National Team Roster for 2010 Pan American Cup
# - Name (Pos, Ht, Hometown, College)
1 - Ogonna Nnamani (OPP, 6-1, Bloomington, Ill., Stanford)
2 - Alisha Glass (S, 6-0, Leland, Mich., Penn State)
3 - Christa Harmotto (MB, 6-2, Aliquippa, Pa., Penn State)
5 - Stacy Sykora (L, 5-10, Burleson, Texas, Texas A&M)
6 - Tamari Miyashiro (L, 5-7, Kaneohe, Hawaii, Washington)
7 - Heather Bown (MB, 6-3, Yorba Linda, Calif., Hawaii)
8 - Cynthia Barboza (OH, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif., Stanford)
11 - Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Neb., Nebraska)
12 - Nancy Metcalf (OPP, 6-1, Hull, Iowa, Nebraska)
15 - Courtney Thompson (S, 5-8, Kent, Wash., Washington)
16 - Foluke Akinradewo (MB, 6-3, Plantation, Fla., Stanford)
18 - Megan Hodge (OH, 6-3, Durham, N.C., Penn State)
Head Coach: Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Assistant Coach: Karch Kiraly (San Clemente, Calif.)
Assistant Coach: Paula Weishoff (Irvine, Calif.)
Athletic Trainer/Medical Support: Jill Wosmek (Silver Lake, Minn.)
Technical Coordinator: Jamie Morrison
Team Leader: Mary Wise
International Referee: Julie Voeck
