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Olympic
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USA
Women Qualify for 2000 Olympics
Part
1 Part 2
January 10th, 2000
By Rick Capone
Game
2
started out pretty much the way game one had ended, with Canada staying
close and the USA just trying to get into their rhythm. Both sides
played tough and the score stayed close, which played right into the Canadian's
hands. Then with the score 11-9 in Canada's favor, Scott finally
started to find her rhythm as she got a block to make it 11-10. Canada
hung tough though and opened it up to 12-11. And then Scott came
alive, putting a tremendous stuff block on a Canadian attack to
tie the score at 12-12. Next play, another Scott block along with
Tagaloa and the USA had the lead 13-12. With that play, not only
had Scott finally gotten her rhythm, but she brought the crowd to their
feet and into the match as well.
With Scott finding her rhythm, the rest of the USA team began to come together too. It was the turning point of the match.
"They (Canada) really came out and played well and not until Danielle
(Scott) got them out of rhythm a little bit with spectacular blocking in
game two, were we able to get on an even keel with them," said Haley.
"And it was kind of a real battle after that."
| Rick's Notes
-- It was a great day all around for the USA. Not only did the USA women qualify for the Olympics, the men did too. Just hours before the women took the court in Lakeland, Florida, the USA Men's National Team defeated the Canadian men's team in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The score was 25-20, 30-28, 25-21 and avenged the USA's early round defeat by the Canadian's in the tourney. It marked the first time in USA Volleyball history that both the men's and women's teams earned Olympic berths on the same day. -- According to Canadian's Women's National Team head coach, Doug Reimer, the Canadian women still can qualify for the Olympics. They will be playing in the Asian qualifier in Japan in the next few months. At that qualifier, the top asian team earns an Olympic berth, as well as the three top non-asian teams in the tournament. So if the Canadian women can finish in a top 3 spot against the other non-asian competitors at that tournament, they will be going to Sydney, too. -- In the third place match earlier in the day, the Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico 25-23, 25-27, 25-15. Final Standings:
Pool Play -USA def Dom Rep
Medal Matches
Individual Player Awards Best Receiver -- Brigette Soucy, Canada
Most Valuable Player -- Danielle Scott, USA
|
Well maybe not that easy, because Canada kept hanging tough. But after Scott had made those blocks, it sort of "cracked the armor" of the Canadian team a little. A kill by Scott, a kill by outside hitter, Demetira Sance and the USA lead was 16-12. A few plays later, Scott got a kill and another block to make it 18-13. The game continued with the USA continuing to hold the lead, but Canada kept hanging close. A kill by Demetria Sance gave the USA game point 24-20. Next play, Cross-Battle put down a powerful kill on a back row attack to close out game two, 25-20. The USA now had the momentum, or so you thought.
Game 3 started with the USA not focusing and being called out of rotation, but USA middle blocker, Mickisha Hurley came right back with two kills to give the USA a 2-1 lead. Canada tied it up with a kill by middle blocker Joanne Ross and then thanks to some USA errors and good play by themselves, opened a 7-5 lead. The USA came back again though, with a kill on a slide by Scott and an attack error by Canada to tie it 7-7. It stayed close until 16-16, when the USA took the lead for good on a kill by Cross-Battle, which made it 17-16. A block by Hurley and Noriega, two kills by Noriega, an attack error by Canada, and the USA was up 21-16. By now, the crowd also was getting into the match as well. Their cheers just kept getting louder and louder, which helped the USA players a lot.
"There were so many times I went back to serve and I would hear people cheering for us," a very happy Noriega said after the match. "And in the middle of rallies you could hear the crowd. It was a major factor. It really helped keep our energy up. There were times when you couldn't (even) hear what was going on, on the court. So it was really, really nice to have such great support."
Canada fought back again, but couldn't get closer than 23-20. A kill by Scott gave the USA game point. Next play, Cross-Battle put game three in the books, 25-20.
The fourth game opened and once again it was still close. Canada, seemingly, would not go away. But then after ties at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, and 5-5, Canada broke from the pattern. A kill by middle blocker Rae-Anne Mitchell and another by Soucy, and they had a 7-5 lead. The teams swapped kills to make it 8-6, Canada. Then on a block by Scott and Cross-Battle, followed by three kills in a row by Scott, the USA took the lead, 10-8. It got to 12-8 on a kill by Cross-Battle and another by Scott. Canada came back to tie it again, and then after some sloppy play by both sides, Canada managed to open an 18-16 lead over the USA. A kill by USA's Scott closed it to 18-17, but then two kills by Canada's Soucy and an attack error by the USA gave the Canadian's a 21-17 lead. It is almost impossible to comeback from a 4 point deficit in a rally scoring game. But much to Canada's dismay, someone forgot to tell that to the USA players.
On kills by Scott, Cross-Battle, and Hurley, the USA closed to 21-20. A USA attack error made it 22-20, but then Cross-Battle came back with a kill, followed by a block by Cross-Battle and Hurley, and a kill by Hurley, and the USA had the lead 23-22.
The USA then reached game and match point on a Canadian hitting error, 24-22. Next play, a block by Noriega and Hurley on Canada's Soucy and the game was over, 25-22.
The USA had won the match and had qualified for the Olympics. Next stop, Sydney, Australia in September. Go U.S.A.
If you wish to link to this article please use the following
url:
http://volleyball.About.com/library/weekly/aa000110.htm
This Week Last Year:
01/10/99 - State of the Beach
An online interview with former interim director of WPVA, David Williams
about professional beach volleyball.
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