USA A2 Blue Women’s Team grabs gold at USA Volleyball Open Championships
The action at the 82nd annual USA Volleyball Open Championships started off on Saturday, May 28 as The Dallas Convention Centre in Dallas welcomed 534 male and female volleyball teams, which had more than 5,000 athletes of different categories.
The Women’s National A2 Teams were also on board and staged some hot action on centre court. The A2 Teams were classified as the Blue, Red and White teams and played against each other several times to make it into the finals. USA A2 Blue squad ended defeating
Red team in the golden set on Tuesday, May 31.
The tussle between Red and Blue team started when USA A2 Red girls defeated USA A2 Blue Team in the first-final match on Tuesday. It was the only match, which had bad results for Blue team. Otherwise, they pulled off success in all of their previous matches.
However, the fired-up Blue Team made a great come-back in the double-final title match of the 2011 USA Volleyball Open National Championships Women's Open Division later on. They took revenge from Reds by sending 3-1(19-25, 25-23, 25-18, and 25-23) victory
and also created the chance for a golden set play-off. The Blue team maintained its dominance over their opponents in the golden set and settled for victory by posting a 26-24 win.
Match overview
The girls guided by head coach Geoff Carlston started out really well. They produced commanding serves and tried to put pressure on the Blue Team. They had the confidence of their last victory over their opponents and enjoyed great rhythm. On the other side
of the net, Blue team played defensively and waited for the right moment. Reds quickly covered the length of opening set and won 25-19.
After dropping the first set, Blue Team woke up and upped their attack. With the early strike of volleys, they managed to break the rhythm of Red team. Meanwhile, the Red team resisted in full force but couldn’t stop the killing spikes. The ball was landing
on the Red side repeatedly and the second set slipped through their hands.
From that point on, girls in blue shirts didn’t stop. They played in great style and claimed third set of the game. Red team was dragged under pressure and committed too many unforced mistakes, which led them to defeat in the fourth set. Blue team won the
match but it could only tie the overall score at 1-1. Afterwards, the two teams appeared in the golden set.
Golden set
The golden set of the match was an exciting affair. It was a do or die situation for both teams. An exchange of swift spikes was seen in the golden set but eventually, Blue team managed to hold off the Red side with 2-point lead at 26-24.
Top scorer
Tarah Murrey of the USA A2 Blue Team played an instrumental role in her team’s victory. The California star player had the most points in Blue Team’s score. She contributed a match-high 20 points via 4 aces, 14 kills and 17 attack attempts. Murray also did
a great job at receiving the long pipes from the rival side. She was also named for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament. Blue Team’s victory in the golden set was mainly due to the efforts put up by Murrey. She alone added 8 points and enabled
her team to taste victory.
Likewise, Ashley Bannister put up a valiant effort and clipped 14 valuable points for USA A2 Blue Team. She was credited for her 13 attack attempts and five blocks. Ashley Rhodes contributed by scoring 12 points. The star player of Blue Team, Murrey expressed
her views after the match and stated, “This feels awesome. When we lost to the Red Team in the first final, I was talking to Ashley (Bannister) and told her we have to win this. We worked so hard to get to this point. I couldn’t have asked for more. I loved
playing with my teammates this week.”
In the Red squad, Madison Kingdon helped her team’s score with 16 points, while Kelly Murphy contributed 15 points to their losing effort.
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