ANAHEIM, Calif. - In a moment of déjà vu, the U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team lost a five-set marathon to Cuba 17-25, 16-25, 28-26, 25-16, 15-11 in the bronze-medal match Sunday afternoon during the NORCECA Continental Championship at Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
For the second time in the tournament, the U.S. lost to Cuba in five sets after winning the opening two sets. On Sept. 23, the Americans won the first two sets against Cuba 25-19 and 25-16, only to have the Cubans bounce back to win 25-16, 28-26, 15-10 during Pool B action. In addition, the U.S. was extended to five sets in three of the five matches it played during the NORCECA Continental Championship - all resulting in losses including a 21-25, 26-24, 10-25, 25-10, 21-19 loss to Dominican Republic in the semifinal round on Saturday evening.
The U.S. failed to medal in the NORCECA Continental Championship for the first time since 1971 in the biennial event. USA and Cuba had played against each other in 16 of the last 17 finals, but both lost in semifinal matches. Cuba was the defending champion in the event and had won 13 of the previous 20 NORCECA Championships. The Americans had won the event five times with 11 silver medals in the last 17 years.
The U.S. used a key 4-1 scoring run to take a 17-12 lead in the opening set, then scored three of the final four points for a 25-17 victory. The American broke a 5-all tie in the second set with a 5-1 spurt as it won 25-16 with the final five points to its side of the ledger. Cuba led 24-22 in the third set, but the U.S. saved four set points before the Cubans prevailed 28-26. Cuba opened the fourth set with a 6-2 advantage and built a 16-10 lead at the second technical timeout on another 6-2 run as part of a 25-16 victory. With the score tied 3-all in the fifth set, Cuba scored six of the next seven points to take a 9-4 advantage and went on to win 15-11.
"Our team ran out of gas after the third set," U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon said. "It has been a long summer and this is a learning experience for our young players because college volleyball is very different to the international game."
Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) collected a match-high 17 points for the U.S. with 16 kills on 38 attacks and a block. Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.) tallied nine kills on 14 errorless attempts, four aces and a block for 14 points. Cynthia Barboza (Long Beach, Calif.) chipped in a matching 14 points with 10 kills, two blocks and two aces. Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) tacked on 10 points with eight kills and two blocks.
For the complete press release, visit http://usavolleyball.org/news/article/16366.
For the NORCECA Continental Championship Web page to view tournament recaps and stats for all matches, click here.
