US win the World Grand Prix – Volleyball news
The Brazilian and the American teams competed against each other in the title match of the World Grand Prix on August 28th. The venue of the competition was the East Asian Games Dome in Macau, China. 4,600 spectators were treated to 1 hour and
32 minutes of play in which the defending champions USA won the title again by 3-0.
The opening set saw an intense battle being carried on by both teams and no one was sure which squad would come out on top until the very end when the US was able to clinch a win. The second set started in the same fashion but as it progressed the Americans
were able to come out strong and secure another frame. The third set saw the Brazilians fight hard but the Americans outperformed their opponents and won the match in a clean sweep at the following final set scores: 26-24, 25-20 and 25-21.
The coach of the American team, Hugh McCutcheon, gave the following comments at the press conference conducted after the match had reached its close: “It is always a challenge to play the Brazil team, they are the best team in the world. For us we had to
play with a lot of discipline, focus on trying to work together and stick to the game plan. Our team really performed very well today.”
The Brazilian coach, Jose Roberto Guimaraes, shared his views and said, “Congratulations to the USA team, they played very, very well. They gave us a lesson of volleyball tonight. I agree with Fabiana that we were weak in our defence and blocking. We managed
only two blocks in this entire match, and it is very hard to play as the USA team like this.”
The Americans started the first set of the match by taking a lead at 9-3 but the Brazilians were able to tie the match at 17-17. The match remained intense from then on as both teams fought hard for an opening set win. However, it was the American side that
was able to get the set at 26-24.
The second technical time out of the second set saw the Americans leading but the Brazilians stayed close behind until the US managed to extend the advantage to 19-15. The Brazilians could not keep pace with the Americans as they went ahead to bag another
set at 25-20.
The Americans were able to take the lead early in the third set and did not give the opportunity to the Brazilians to challenge their onslaught and it took the Americans to the end of the set at 25-21.
The top scorer in the championship match was Destinee Hooker with 16 points.
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