ANAHEIM, Calif. ) - The U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, ranked second in the world, dropped a heart-breaking five-set match to Cuba 19-25, 16-25, 25-16, 28-26, 15-10 on Wednesday evening in NORCECA Continental Championship Pool B action being held at Bayamon, Puerto Rico.
Cuba improves to 2-0 in pool play, while the U.S. falls to 1-1. Team USA, which was playing fifth-ranked Cuba for the first time since the Americans' victory over the island nation during the 2008 Olympic Games semifinals, concludes pool play against No. 30 Costa Rica on Thursday at 6 p.m. (3 p.m. Pacific Time). Earlier today, Mexico (1-1) defeated Costa Rica (0-2) in four sets. The NORCECA Continental Championship concludes Sept. 27 after the quarterfinal round on Sept. 25 and semifinals/classifications on Sept. 26.
The NORCECA Continental Championship winner qualifies for the 2009 FIVB Grand Champions Cup to be held Nov. 10-15 in Japan. Each of the four continental champions earns a spot into the FIVB Grand Champions Cup, along with host Japan and one wild card team.
The U.S. overcame a 15-12 deficit in the opening set using a 4-0 scoring spurt and tallying the final 13 of 17 points to propel it to a 25-19 victory. The Americans jumped to a 7-3 lead in the second set and led 22-12 before settling in on a 25-16 victory. Cuba rebounded to gain a 6-2 advantage in the third set, held off a U.S. charge to close to 12-10 before wrapping up the set at 25-16. The U.S. led 22-20 in the fourth set and had three match points before Cuba bounced back to score the final three points for a 28-26 victory. In the tiebreaking fifth set, Cuba scored the first three points and built a five-point cushion at 9-4 and went on to win 15-10.
Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) scored a team-high 16 points in leading the USA with 14 kills on 32 swings, one block and one ace. Jordan Larson (Hooper, Neb.) added 14 points via 12 kills, one ace and one block.
To read the full press release, visit http://usavolleyball.org/news/article/16227.
