COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 18, 2011) – The U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, assisted by UC Irvine head coach, Paula Weishoff, dropped a 29-27, 25-23, 25-18 match to host Japan on Friday evening in Tokyo at Yoyogi National Stadium to finish with the silver medal in the FIVB World Cup.

Despite the loss, the U.S. (9-2, 26 points) achieved its primary goal of 2012 Olympic Games qualification one day earlier with a win over Italy. The silver medal also represents Team USA's highest finish in the FIVB World Cup after back-to-back bronze finishes in 2003 and 2007. However, Italy earned the FIVB World Cup gold medal with a 10-1 record after sweeping Kenya earlier Friday, forcing the Americans to defeat Japan in either three or four sets to reach the top podium step.

The FIVB World Cup utilized a round-robin format resulting in 11 matches over a 15-day period. The FIVB World Cup awarded 2012 Olympic Games berths to the top three teams. Along with the U.S., Italy earned a ticket to the Olympics with the gold medal and China took the bronze and the third Olympic Games spot.

The U.S. led 23-21 in the opening set and had four set points only to have Japan rally to win 29-27. Japan built a 20-16 lead in the second set, only have the U.S. save three set points before the host country finished the frame at 25-23. Japan used a 3-0 run to build a 15-11 lead in the third set and held on for the 25-18 victory.

"Obviously today we weren't at our best," U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) said. "Japan played well, certainly in the last half of the tournament; they've improved. The most important thing was to gain qualification and we've done that. So overall our feeling is one of very strong positive emotion, but obviously tonight a very strong negative emotion, too. But we'll move on and learn from today's experience and hopefully learn in the future."

To view complete release, visit usavolleyball.org/news/article/45510.