USA won the FIVB Women’s World Championship for the first time today, downing a scrappy China team in four sets to claim the trophy. Put to music, then, it’s “Only in America where we dream in red, white and blue. Only in America where we dream as big as we want to. We all get a chance, everybody gets to dance. Only in America!” From the song “Only in America” by Brooks and Dunn.
In an exciting but “streaky” (analyst and Gold Medal winner Paul Sunderland’s word) match which was sometimes very unartistic, USA overcame China by a score of 27-25, 25-20, 16-25, and 26-24. The first set saw China jump out to an early lead of 6 – 2, but USA battled back and closed out the set with a 27 – 25 win. In the second set, USA came alive and scored several early points as they cruised to a 25 – 20 victory. Set 3 saw USA jump out to an early lead but then lose focus as well as the set, 16 – 25. And, in a see saw battle in set 4, USA fell behind but battled back to secure the match and the World Championship trophy, 26 – 24.
Congratulations to the ladies of the USA team, and thanks for some great Volleyball.
USA ROSTER FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
| NAME | PLAYS | HOMETOWN | COLLEGE |
| Rachael Adams | Middle | Cincinnati, OH | Texas |
| Foluke Akinradewo | Middle | Plantation, FL | Stanford |
| Kayla Banawarth | Libero | Dubuque, IA | Nebraska |
| Nicole Davis | Libero | Stockton, CA | USC |
| Christa Harmatto Dietzen | Middle | Hopewell Township, PA | Penn State |
| Tetori Dixon | Middle | Burnsville, MN | Minnesota |
| Nicole Fawcett | Opposite | Zanesfield, OH | Penn State |
| Alisha Glass | Setter | Leland, MI | Penn State |
| Kristin Hildebrand | Outside | Orem, UT | Stanford |
| Kimberly Hill | Outside | Portland, OR | Pepperdine |
| Jordan Larson-Burbach | Outside | Hooper, NE | Nebraska |
| Kelly Murphy | Opposite | Wilmington, IL | Florida |
| Kelsey Robinson | Outside | Bartlett, IL | Nebraska |
| Courtney Thompson | Setter | Kent, WA | Washington |
USA coaches included Head Coach Karch Kiraly as well as Assistants Jamie Morrison and Pepperdine men’s coach Marv Dunphy.
In the third place match Brazil triumphed over Italy in five sets, 25-15, 25-13, 22-25, 22-25, and 15-7.
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM (or THE DREAM TEAM)
Outside Hitters – Ting Zhu (China) and Kim Hill (USA)
Middle Blockers – Thaisa Menezes (Brazil) and Yang Junjing (China)
Setter – Alisha Glass (USA)
Opposite – Sheilla Castro De Paula Blassioli (Brazil)
Libero – Monica De Gennaro (Italy)
Tournament MVP – Kim Hill (USA)
Fair Play Award – Coach Jose’ Roberto Lages (“Ze Roberto”) (Brazil)
And, with the USA victory over China, twenty days of Volleyball come to a close. Next World Championship is in 2018; but wait, there’s an event called the Olympics between then and now. Are we lucky, or what!
Let’s grow Volleyball together, Please!
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