U.S. defeats Brazil by 3-1 in the opening match of FIVB Women’s World Cup
The FIVB Women’s World Cup is currently taking place in Japan after it kick started on November 4th in Hiroshima and Nagano. The first round showcased the opening match between the world ranked number one Brazilian team against the world's second ranked
American squad. The match between the two sides went on for four long and thrilling sets at the end of which the U.S. was able to better the top ranked one by 3-1.
The first set of the match was fairly even all through but as the frame reached its final stages, the Americans were able to come out strong and bag the opening win. The loss of the first set did not sit too well with the Brazilians and they made sure that
they got their hands on the second frame by winning it by a comfortable margin. The third set of the match was the most competitive as both the teams held on for long. However, it was the American side that asserted themselves with a win. The fourth set was
fairly one sided with the Americans playing better all through and sealing the deal on the match at the following final set scores: 25-22, 17-25, 27-25 and 25-19.
The coach of the American team, Hugh McCutcheon, expressed himself in the following manner at the press conference that was conducted after the match reached its close: First of all, I’m happy to have won tonight...Both teams applied a lot of service pressure
and reception was good. It was a battle for a while and then things kind of broke down; it was wide open for a while, but very happy for my players for their ability to make a couple of plays when it counted and I think in the fourth set we held that advantage
and performed at a better level.”
On the other hand, the coach of the Brazilian squad Ze Roberto, shared his views in the following manner: “Congratulations to the American team. I agree with USA captain Lindsey Berg that both teams didn’t play at a good level and there were many mistakes
on both sides.”
The frist set saw the Brazilians trailing behind at 13-9 and they were not able to recover that made them lose the opening set at 22-25. The second set was more aggressive from the Brazilian end as they smothered the Americans by 25-17. After the second
set, the Americans were able to assert themselves both in the third as well as the fourth set at 27-25 and 25-19 respectively.
The player that was able to score the most points were the Brazilian Fernanda Rodrigues and Sheilla Castro each registering 18 points each. The player that was most active on the American side was Danielle Scott-Arruda who scored a total of 10 points.
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