US coach praises the team for a good start in the Final Round – Volleyball News
Hugh McCutcheon, the head coach of US women’s national volleyball team, expressed delight on winning the Final Round Opener on Wednesday. Two-time defending champions US team edged out arch-rival Brazil in a five-set thriller.
The match was followed by the official press conference, where coaches and captains of both teams shared their views. McCutcheon seemed pretty much delighted and appreciated the combined effort of his players. He said: “In the first two sets we played well,
we tried to play the plan. The third set is very different. Brazil is a strong team and responded very well in the third and fourth set. The fifth set was a battle, we sent couple of players on court. It is a good start for us in this tournament.”
Winning Captain Danielle Scott-Arruda was also happy about the good start in the Final Round of 2012 FIVB World Grand Prix.
Brazil gave a really tough time to USA in the opening affair. Ningbo Beilun Gymnasium in China provided the backdrop for the match, which continued for more than two hours. Brazil’s scoring machine Sheilla Castro stormed American half with killing spikes
and deadly aces throughout the match. She charted match-high 22 points. However, it proved to be a failing effort for her as Brazil dropped the decision. Three other Brazilians also crossed the single-digit scores in the match. Hence, the victory did not come
easy for USA.
The Captain of Brazil Fabiana Claudino, who looked visibly disgruntled about the match outcome, said: “It is very hard today. We worked out little bit better in the third and fourth set, but it is still difficult to overcome the American's winning desire.
We are now looking forward to the next match and hopefully we will play better.”
Brazilian coach Jose R. Guimaraes was also present at the conference. First and foremost, he congratulated American team for their win. Moreover, he encouraged his team to come up with better performance in the next match. Although his team lost the match,
he took it in positive perspective and asked the team to move on.
US team will return to action in the next match against Thailand on Thursday.
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