New-Look U.S. Women Close Out Peru
August 21, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 21, 2011) - The U.S. Women's National Volleyball Team, assisted by UC Irvine head coach Paula Weishoff, defeated Peru 25-13, 25-18, 25-15 with a new-look lineup on Sunday morning in Pool J of the FIVB World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.
The U.S., ranked second in the FIVB world ranking and defending FIVB World Grand Prix champions in the premier annual international volleyball tournament, concludes the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix preliminary round with an 8-1 record and 23 points. The Americans will finish either second or third in preliminary round before heading into the eight-team FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round depending on the outcome of second-place Russia (21 points, 7-1 record) versus seventh-place Japan (15 points, 5-3) later in the day. The FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round, which involves the top seven teams in the 16-team preliminary round along with host China, is set for Aug. 24-28 in Macau.
"We will first set our eyes on the games next week and keep on working on the zone qualification for World Cup," U.S. Women's National Team Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand) said. "I aim to keep improving the team and to submit USA Volleyball and how we are going to play."
To watch Universal Sports' video stream of the Team USA versus Peru match, CLICK HERE.
The U.S. opened the first set with a 3-0 lead and the advantage reached 17-8 on a 7-1 scoring run as the Americans captured the set 25-13 without only Peru to score consecutive points. Team USA was not able to pull away from Peru in the second set until breaking away from a 17-16 lead with an 8-2 rush to the final 25-18 score that included three blocks down the stretch. After holding a slim 9-8 advantage in the third set, the U.S. inched out to a 16-12 lead at the second technical timeout and put the match away 25-15 thanks to a 7-0 run.
"I am very happy with our win," McCutcheon said. "I thought our team did better this weekend than last weekend. Our athletes did play hard and stick to the plan. We are in general happy with the win."
Megan Hodge (Durham, N.C.) tallied a match-high 15 points with 12 kills on 21 errorless attacks and three blocks. Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) charted 11 kills on 18 errorless attacks and three blocks for 14 points. Christa Harmotto (Hopewell, Pa.) contributed nine kills via 13 swings, one block and an ace for 11 points. Kim Glass (Lancaster, Pa.) provided six kills and three blocks in the victory, while captain Jennifer Tamas (Milpitas, Calif.) scored three kills, three blocks and an ace for seven points. Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.) rounded out the scoring with two blocks.
McCutcheon started Hodge and Kim Glass at outside hitter, Tamas and Harmotto at middle blocker, Metcalf at opposite and Alisha Glass at setter. Tamari Miyashiro (Kaneohe, Hawaii) was the libero for the match. Entering the match, only two of today's starting seven players had started a 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix match with Hodge starting the first three matches and Alisha Glass getting the starting nod in the second match of the tournament. Harmotto was making her first appearance on the active 12-player roster for the tournament. Miyashiro was making her first start at libero during the 2011 season. The U.S. starting lineup also included three Penn State products.
McCutcheon indicated the change in lineup was two-fold.
"The finals are coming up, and there are a lot of matches in a short period of time," McCutcheon said. "And I also want to provide opportunities for other players to develop and give them a chance to compete. They did well."
Despite the lineup youth and few starts in the 2011 FIVB World Grand Prix, Alisha Glass set the squad to a 48.2 kill percent and .412 hitting efficiency with only six attack errors. Peru converted just 27.5 percent of its attacks with a .064 hitting efficiency and 23 attack errors.
Alisha Glass set the U.S. tables with 33 assists on 66 set attempts. Hodge turned in 10 excellent receptions on 21 ateempts, while Miyashiro handed out 10 digs and five excellent receptions on six attempts.
"Nice match with Peru," said Tamas, the U.S. Women's National Team captain. "We played pretty hard and smart. We are looking forward to playing in Macau. Thank you Hong Kong for your hospitality and the fans here are great."
The U.S. scored a 15-3 block advantage in the match to aid its 41-30 margin in kills. Both teams turned in two aces. Team USA's offense clicked thanks to a 55.0 excellent reception percent on 40 attempts compared to Peru's 53.7 percent. In addition, the Americans held a 23-20 advantage in digs.
Carla Rueda led Peru with seven points in the loss, while Mirtha Uribe and Jessenia Uceda chipped in six points each.
"I am glad about our performance today," Peru Head Coach Luca Cristofani said. "The only two things we can compare to USA are serving and receiving. We hope to keep growing each day."
In other FIVB World Grand Prix matches on the final day of the preliminary round, fifth-place Italy (16 points, 6-2) plays 11th-place Germany (7 points, 2-6) in Pool J in Hong Kong. In Pool I in Hong Kong, 12th-place Dominican Republic (6 points, 2-6) faces 15th-place Kazakhstan (1 point, 0-8) and eighth-place China (5-3) plays 10th-place Poland (4-4), which needs a win an assistance from other countries to make the Final Round. In Pool L in Tokyo, fourth-place Serbia (17 points, 5-3) challenges ninth-place Korea (13 points, 5-3) and second-place Russia (21 points, 7-1) takes on the host country Japan (15 points, 5-3), which is in seventh-place and may need a win to advance to the Final Round. In Pool K at Bangkok, 13th-place Cuba (6 points, 1-7) and 14th-place Argentina (4 points, 2-6) will conclude their tournament later today, while top-ranked Brazil (24 points, 8-0) looks to stay undefeated against host sixth-place Thailand (15 points, 5-3).
For more information on the U.S. Women's National Team in the FIVB World Grand Prix, visit the team's event page at usavolleyball.org/events/7901.
Hodge scored the first two points to start the first set and Tamas followed with an ace at 3-0. Team USA reached the first technical timeout leading 8-4 after a Metcalf kill and Peru attack error. The Americans stretched the lead to 13-7 with a kill and block from Metcalf after a kill from Harmotto. Out of a Peru timeout, Harmotto connected a fourth straight point to place the score at 14-7. The U.S. advanced to the second technical timeout leading 16-7 on a Metcalf kill after a Peru attack error. Metcalf added a block from the break to extend the lead to 17-8. Tamas and Metcalf scored back-to-back kills leading to a Peru timeout down 21-11. Hodge pounded consecutive kills to yield a 23-12 U.S. advantage. The U.S. finished the set at 25-13 with a Metcalf kill and Peru error. Metcalf finished the first set with seven points, while Hodge added five kills. Team USA limited its errors to three for the set and held a 2-0 block advantage and 6-4 dig margin.
Metcalf and Hodge tallied kills to start the second set with a 2-0 advantage for the Americans. The teams traded points until Kim Glass followed a Tamas kill with a block to give Team USA an 8-5 lead heading into the first technical timeout. Peru scored its first point off its serve with an ace then put up a block to tie the set at 8-all. Hodge scored a kill around two Peru errors to yield an 11-8 American advantage. Hodge added a fourth straight point with a block at 12-8. Peru closed the gap to 13-12 with back-to-back points. However, Peru served out and Metcalf followed with an ace at 15-12. Three straight Peru points closed it to within one 17-16. Team USA regained a three-point cushion at 19-16 with a Kim Glass kill and Peru attack error. Megan Hodge tallied a kill and block to push the Americans in front 22-18 at Peru's final timeout of the set. Out of the break, Harmotto tapped down an overpass for a kill and followed with a slide kill to give Team USA set points at 24-18. Alisha Glass ended the set with a block at 25-18 to cap a 5-0 scoring run. Hodge scored five points in the second set, including three of the team's seven blocks.
Metcalf and Harmotto hammered kills to start the third set and Harmotto and Alisha Glass followed with blocks to yield an American 4-0 advantage. Peru scored the next three points out of a timeout to close to within one at 4-3. Team USA stretched the lead back to four at 7-3 with two Hodge kills around a Peru error. After the first technical timeout, Peru sliced the gap in half at 8-6 with back-to-back points, then moved to within one at 9-8. Kim Glass put up a block after a Peru error marking an 11-8 American advantage. Hodge and Metcalf hammered kills extending the U.S. margin to 16-12 at the second technical timeout. Kim Glass pounded consecutive kills off the Peru and Tamas put up a block to increase the U.S. advantage to 19-13. Out of a Peru timeout, Kim Glass added a block and Harmotto served an ace to move the score to 21-13. Kim Glass scored a block and Hodge capped a 7-0 run with a kill at 23-13. Team USA finished the set at 25-15 on a Peru attack error. Harmotto contributed five points in the third set, while Hodge added four points. The U.S. totaled six blocks in the third set coming from five different players.
