|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Former Stanford standout Foluke Akinradewo produced a team-best eight points on six kills and two blocks and the United States national women’s volleyball team moved into the championship of the Volleyball Nations League Final Round with a 25-21, 25-23, 25-20 victory over Turkey in Rimini, Italy on Thursday.
The world’s No. 1 USA meets Brazil in Friday’s title match. The Brazilians topped Japan, 25-15, 25-23, 29-31, 25-16 to advance.
Kelsey Robinson, Michelle Bartsch-Hackley and Andrea Drews each had seven points for the Americans, who are the two-time defending VNL champions.
Friday’s match features the top two ranked teams in the world. The U.S. and Brazil also met for the title in 2019, the last time the event was held.
“It’s Brazil so it’s going to be a good match,” American Jordyn Poulter said. “They are a very good volleyball team. We are hoping to show up and do our best. They will bring their strongest and it will be a good volleyball game.”
The second set proved difficult for the U.S., which fell behind 22-17 at one point before a Poulter service ace sparked a 7-0 run that put the Americans at set point.
“I think we came out very strong in the first set. Then, they came back in the second and they pushed us a lot,” Poulter said. “We had some girls who came in from the bench and really helped us make the momentum change.”
U.S. Men
The Americans completed its run through the VNL with a sweep of Japan, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20, on Wednesday and an 8-7 overall record.
“It’s been a great tournament,” U.S. coach John Speraw said. “I think we’ve learned a lot about our team. We’ve learned a lot about what we need to do over the next couple weeks to get better before Tokyo, one of them is to get healthy too. This tournament was good for us to evaluate our Olympic roster decisions and of course get together again after being apart for two years.”
Stanford grads Kawika Shoji and Erik Shoji are on the U.S. roster.
Follow Palo Alto Sports Online on Facebook
By Rick Eymer
By Rick Eymer
By Rick Eymer
