LONG BEACH, California (June 19, 2016) – The top-ranked U.S. Women’s National Team concluded its weekend of hosting the FIVB World Grand Prix Pool E with a 25-21, 25-20, 25-16 victory over visiting Turkey on Sunday evening in Long Beach, California.
Nicole Fawcett (Zanesfield, Ohio) sparked the USA with 15 points, including 12 kills on 28 attacks, two blocks and an ace. Rachael Adams (Cincinnati, Ohio) added 15 points with eight kills on 13 errorless swings and five blocks. Kelsey Robinson (Bartlett, Illinois) notched 14 points on the strength of 12 kills on 26 swings and two blocks. Jordan Larson (Hooper, Nebraska) contributed 11 points with nine kills on 18 attacks and two blocks. Christa Dietzen (Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania) provided three kills on seven attacks and a block for four points. Alisha Glass (Leland, Michigan) and Karsta Lowe (Rancho Santa Fe, California) rounded out the scoring with one point each. “I think each week we build on the previous week,” Dietzen said. “We talked about not looking at it as this big daunting task with so many matches in the Grand Prix, or so matches before leaving for Rio. It is taking one match at a time. One practice at a time. We go back, look at video from these three matches, we learn from learn. We will work on those areas of weakness this week and take them into matches against Germany, Netherlands and China. We are really excited to have the opportunity to compete as a team against Netherlands and China, as will see them in Rio.” Team USA converted 44.6 percent of its attacks into points with a .337 hitting efficiency (45-11-101) as Glass was credited with 24 running set on 63 set attempts. Carli Lloyd (Bonsall, California) added seven running sets as the double-sub setter. “I think one of our goals today was we knew that the atmosphere might be different than last night, which was a pretty special atmosphere,” U.S. Women’s National Team Head Coach Karch Kiraly said. “We knew the energy would be less, and we don’t want to be dependent on crowd, or energy or even really good play like last night when we were up 16-4 to start – we were on fire. We don’t want to be dependent on those things to bring a good version of ourselves. So our challenge today, was if we could bring a good version of ourselves and we did. I think our team did a nice job with quite different conditions. We didn’t go out to a huge lead, we weren’t playing out of our minds, and we didn’t have the crowd we had last night. We had a nice crowd, but it wasn’t the VOL-B-QUE crowd from last night.” Kayla Banwarth (Dubuque, Iowa) turned in 15 digs in leading the American backrow defense. Larson pocketed 10 digs, while Robinson added nine digs. Robinson recorded 18 excellent receptions on 33 chances and Larson chipped in 10 excellent receptions on 12 chances. Turkey’s Polen Uslupehlivan totaled 12 points and Hande Baladin chipped in 12 points. Team USA had a 12-6 block advantage and a 4-1 ace margin over Turkey. The Americans held a 58-49 dig advantage. The U.S. held Turkey to a 36.6 kill percent and .202 hitting efficiency (38-17-104). After trailing 7-5, Turkey recovered with a 5-2 scoring run to take a 10-9 advantage capped by a Uslupehlivan kill. However, Adams hit a slide for a kill followed by a Fawcett slam from the back-row and Adams ace for a 12-10 American lead. Dietzen hit a slide for a point and followed with a block to extend the American lead to 14-11. Glass served an ace out of a Turkey timeout, then Dietzen put up a block for a 16-11 USA lead at the second technical timeout. Robinson hammered a kill off the block and Adams put down a quick set to give USA a 21-16 lead after Turkey was fighting to get back in the set. Adams and Larson connected for consecutive kills to raise the American lead to 23-18. Turkey’s Kalac served an ace to close the gap to 23-20, but Dietzen awarded USA set points at 24-20 with a kill. Dietzen ended the set at 25-21 with a kill. Adams and Larson each scored five points in the set. Turkey took a 3-1 early lead in the second set, taking advantage of two USA errors. The Americans answered with three straight for a 4-3 USA lead highlighted by a Robinson kill in transition. Baladin hit a cross-court winner to put Turkey in front 8-7 at the first technical timeout. Team USA took an 11-9 lead on two Fawcett kills and a triple block. Fawcett and Larson scored consecutive kills and Robinson had back-to-back kills followed by a Robinson block to put the Americans up 16-10 at the second technical timeout. Turkey scored four straight to close to 23-19 after trailing by eight points. Lowe ended the run with a kill, then USA finished the set at 25-20 on a Fawcett slam. The USA went up 6-3 as Larson and Robinson were scoring early in the third set. Fawcett served an ace and Robinson hit an attack off the block to extend the American lead to 10-5. The U.S. stretched the lead to 13-6 after an unsuccessful Turkey video challenge. Adams served an ace to inch the American lead to 15-8. Adams scored back-to-back blocks to put USA up 22-11. The USA won 25-16.