USA set to play in the semi-finals after quarter-final victory at the Olympics – Volleyball News
The United States women’s volleyball team maintained its dominance in the ongoing London Olympic tournament and claimed quarterfinal win over Dominican Republic.
The quarterfinal match took place at the Earls Court in front of 13,000 spectators on Tuesday, while US team posted 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-22) victory over Dominican Republic. Success in the quarterfinals moved USA to the final four of the competition. Overall,
USA stands with immaculate 6-0 record in the tournament. The American squad is totally shaped up to take away the Olympic gold medal.
US team made a strong opening in the match and went on a scoring spree in the first set. Better combination of attack and block allowed the team to pick up an early lead. Dominican Republic faced a lot of difficulty in tackling the swinging spikes and deadly
aces from the opposite side. They dropped the first frame with fair margin of 11 points. Hugh McCutcheon’s team continued with success in the following two sets and seized match victory.
Destinee Hooker of USA was named the top-scorer of the match with a total of 19 points, while her teammates Foluke Akinradewo and Jordan Larson contributed 12 and 11 points respectively. Dominican Republic, on the other hand, was supported by Prisilla Rivera
and Bethania de la Cruz. The two Dominicans finished with 15 and 12 points in the loss. Moreover, they were the only two players on their side with double-figure score.
American mentor Hugh McCutcheon was very happy with his group. He praised his team for showing a great level of play against Dominican Republic in an important match. Likewise, the injured captain of the US team Lindsey Berg expressed delight and congratulated
her team for a clean sweep.
“We played at a very low level in the first set, but in the next two we played much better. USA is very strong but we finished the game at a high level. I’m very happy with my team. We were in a very strong pool. It was good for us to prepare the next Olympic
Games in Rio because playing with strong teams you get much more experience. Now we will work for that and try to be at that level in 2016,” said Dominican mentor Marcos Kwiek.
Americans will be back in action on Thursday as the team is set to take on South Korea in the first semi-final of the Women’s Olympic Volleyball Tournament. This is indeed going to be a thrilling encounter and you’re advised not to miss the action.
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