Nancy leads USA to the final showdown of the XI Women’s Pan Am Cup – Volleyball News
With the help of Nancy Metcalf’s match-high 25 points, the US women’s volleyball team pulled off success in the semi-final match of the XI Women’s Pan American Cup on Thursday.
USA was challenged by arch-rival Dominican Republic at the Gimnasio COBACH in Ciudad, Juarez, Mexico. The Americans sent 25-20, 26-24, 24-26, and 25-16 on board, in order to clinch success in the match. US team joined defending champions Brazil in the final
showdown of the tournament. The medal matches are scheduled to take place on Friday, July 20.
USA's Kristin Richards displayed good effort and totalled 20 points whereas Lauren Gibbemeyer and Jennifer Tamas registered 10 points apiece. Dominican Republic, on the other hand, was supported by Sidarka Nuñez with team-high 19 points.
The match started out with a balanced action from both sides. Dominican Republic offered strong offence to the opponents and tried to put pressure. However, the girls around US captain Sykora played sensibly and successfully fought the challenge. They gave
a good competition to the Dominicans and enjoyed the spotlight. First set gradually inched its way to the end and US team led the score. The Republican squad trailed behind and lost the first set to USA.
US team followed the same strategy and extended its lead to 2-0 by winning the next stanza. Dominican Republic brought more ferocity in attack in third set and managed to push the Americans behind. The US team dropped third set, but came on top with fourth
set win that led the team to match victory.
The captain of the US team Stacy Sykora disclosed her thoughts about the match in the following manner: “USA and Dominican Republic always play tough matches and today was not different. They are one of the strongest teams in the world. We are happy with
the victory but have to put it in the past and focus on the future.”
The US Coach Reed Sunahara commented: “It was another tough battle with Dominican Republic. We are happy with the victory for this team that I am sure has some future Olympians in four years. I wish Dominican Republic the best in the Olympics.”
According to Prisilla Rivera of Dominican Republic, the US team won the match on account of better defence. She looked visibly sad, but showed determination to win the bronze-ware. Dominican Republic’s coach Marcos Kwiek also urged the team to shift its
attention to the next match.
The 2012 XI Women’s Pan American has almost reached its end. The two finalists have been decided and the final encounter will be held on Friday. USA and Brazil will be up for the title trophy of the Pan Am Cup.
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