US sails to women's volleyball final in 24 years
21/8/2008 17:56
The United States re-entered the Olympic women's volleyball final in 24
years today after upsetting three-time champion Cuba in a surprising 3-0.
The
last time they contented for a gold was in 1984 Los Angeles Games, where they
surrendered the championship title to the Chinese women, led by their current
head coach "Iron Hammer" Lang Ping.
They will face either defending champions
China or world's No. 1 Brazil in the final scheduled on Saturday.
The
Americans shrugged off the straight-set loss to the Cuban high jumpers in the
preliminaries and wrapped up the sweet revenge 25-20, 25-16 and 25-17.
The
two sides both started strongly before a 11-11 draw, when the US broke the tie
with lethal spikes by Tayyiba Haneef-Park to lead 14-11. Danielle Scott-Arruda
and Heather Bown helped to enlarge the gap to 24-20. With an unanswered spike of
Kim Willoughby, the US took the opener 25-20.
The Americans dominated the
second set with powerful serves, while Cuba lost their rhythm and their service
errors at the crucial points helped the US to take the effortless second set
25-16.
The Cubans seemed to have lost their willingness to fight in the
decider, while Scott and Logan Tom kept launching brilliant spikes from the
middle of the court and the back row. The US sailed on the track to win with a
solid lead 21-16. Cuba pulled back one point with a spike of Yanelis Stantos,
but that was the furthest they could go. Stunning Willoughby scored three points
in row for the US to seal their historic victory 25-17.
Xinhua
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