1 2 3 4 5 USA 23 25 18 23 SRB 25 20 25 25 U.S. Women Drops Second Final Round Match to Serbia SAPPORO, Japan (Aug. 29, 2013) – The U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team lost to Serbia 25-23, 20-25, 25-18, 25-23 on Aug. 29 during the FIVB World Grand Prix Final Round being held in Sapporo, Japan.
Kim Hill swings by Serbia with Tama Miyashiro (5) covering. (FIVB photo)
The U.S. dropped to 0-2 in the six-team round robin Final Round that takes place over five consecutive days. Serbia improved to 1-1 in the Final Round. After Serbia built an early 12-5 lead in the opening set, the Americans charged back to within one at 17-16 but couldn’t complete the comeback in a 25-23 set loss. The U.S. built a 17-13 advantage in the second set with a 4-0 run, then closed out the set with three unanswered points for a 25-20 victory to even the match. Serbia rallied from an 8-6 deficit in the third set with a 9-1 scoring spurt to take a 15-9 advantage en route to a 25-18 victory. Serbia scored consecutive points to break a 21-all tie in the fourth set leading to a 25-23 victory. Kelly Murphy (Wilmington, Ill.) led the Americans with a match-high 23 points on 21 kills via 38 attacks and two aces. Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) and Kristin Hildebrand (Orem, Utah) each tallied 10 kills, two blocks and an ace for 13 points. Gibbemeyer produced a .714 hitting efficiency (10-0-14) without an attack error. Christa Harmotto (Hopewell Township, Pa.) charted 10 kills on 17 attacks and a block for 11 points. Kim Hill (Portland, Ore.) tallied five kills. Alisha Glass (Leland, Mich.), Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) and Jenna Hagglund (West Chester, Ohio) all scored two points for the U.S. Regan Hood (Dallas) rounded out the scoring with a kill.
Lauren Gibbemeyer (8) and Jenna Hagglund celebrate. (FIVB photo)
Glass was credited with 16 running sets on 89 total set attempts as the Americans converted 50.0 percent of their attacks into points with a .364 hitting efficiency (59-16-118). Tama Miyashiro (Kaneohe, Hawaii) totaled a U.S.-high nine digs in the match, while Hildebrand contributed 11 excellent receptions on 24 attempts. U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly started Hildebrand and Hill at outside hitter, Gibbemeyer and Harmotto at middle blocker, Murphy at opposite and Glass at setter. Miyashiro was the libero for the match. Fawcett and Hagglund were double subs in all four sets, while Cassidy Lichtman (Poway, Calif.) was a serving sub in all four sets. Regan Hood (Dallas) was started the fourth set in place of Hill. Serbia held slim advantages in all three scoring categories with a 60-59 margin in kills, 7-6 edge in aces and 9-7 advantage in blocks. Like the U.S., Serbia converted 50 percent of its attacks into points with a .408 hitting efficiency (60-11-120). Further, Serbia took advantage of 19 American errors and held its own miscues to 17.
Karch Kiraly walks through the World Grand Prix entrance. (FIVB photo)
Serbia’s Jovana Brakocevic scored a team-high 22 points and Brankica Mihajlovic added 20 points in the victory. The U.S. defeated Serbia in five sets on Aug. 11 during the second preliminary weekend held in Belgrade. Serbia is the only team other than Brazil to have defeated the United States in World Grand Prix action since the second preliminary weekend of the 2010 edition.
Left: Lauren Gibbemeyer attacks versus Serbia. (USAV/Bill Kauffman photo). Right: Christa Harmotto swings by Serbia. (FIVB photo)
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