U.S. sweeps Mexico to move up to semis of NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship
The U.S. Women’s National Volleyball team was able to hand out a defeat to the Mexicans in the quarter-finals of the NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship that was played on September 15. The tournament is currently being held in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
The victory that got the Americans into the next round of the tournament was managed by making a clean sweep of their opponents. Not only did the Americans win the match in three back to back sets, they did so in a dominating fashion. The first two sets
saw the Mexicans being completely smothered by the American side. It was only in the third set that the Puerto Ricans managed to step up their game a bit but the Americans sealed the deal at the following final set scores: 25-11, 25-8 and 25-19.
The coach of the American squad, Hugh McCutcheon, made the following statements after the match had reached its close: “I am very happy with the way we played tonight. It is always good to play Cuba as they are one of the best teams in the world.”
On the other hand, the U.S. team captain Jennifer Tamas expressed herself in this manner: “It was a good, competitive match and I am happy with our performance. We played a clean match tonight and we will be ready for tomorrow.”
The opening set of the game saw the Americans take the lead at 3-1 but Mexico was able to close in the gap at 9-8. After an impressive run, the U.S. found itself going strong with a huge lead of 20-9. The Mexicans could not do much except wait till the Americans
had bagged the first set at 25-11.
The second set was tied at 3-3but the U.S. were able to speed up and get to 14-5. The Mexicans put in half hearted efforts that did not do much except take the score to 18-7, in favour of the Americans. Before long, the second set too was secured by the
Americans at 25-8.
The third set went close till the middle stages as the score was 12-9, with an American lead. However, the Mexicans gradually began to fall behind and U.S. sealed the deal at 25-19.
The American player that was able to make the most points for her team was Destinee Hooker with a total of 12 points.
The championship holds an added importance this year as the first two position holders of the tournament will be making their way to the 2011 FIVB World Cup. The World Cup series will be acting as the qualification event for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The team that the world's second ranked Americans will be facing in the semi finals is the Cuban squad. The other two teams that have qualified for the Final Four of the tournament are the home team of Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.
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