2006 World Grand Prix - RESULTS
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U.S. Women Fall to Dominican Republic in Five
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 16, 2006) - The U.S. women's national
team led the Dominican Republic 2-1 in sets in the opening match of the
million-dollar women's FIVB World Grand Prix starting on Wednesday at
Bydgoszcz, Poland, but the Dominican Republic rallied to win 21-25,
25-23, 19-25, 27-25, 15-8.
Tayibba Haneef (Laguna Hills, Calif.) paced the U.S. with 25 points,
including 23 kills. Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) added 20 points on 18
kills, one block and one ace. Therese Crawford (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
contributed 14 points on 11 kills, two blocks and an ace. Heather Bown
(Yorba Linda, Calif.) tacked on 10 points, while Jennifer Joines
(Milpitas, Calif.) chalked up nine points, including a team-leading
three blocks. Lindsey Berg (Honolulu, Hawai'i) charted four points.
The U.S. started Haneef, Berg, Bown, Jones, Crawford and Metcalf.
Candace Lee (Eugene, Ore.) served as the libero. Team USA Head Coach
"Jenny" Lang Ping started the entire group the same in all five
sets. Danielle Scott came off the bench in the second, fourth and fifth
sets to score one point. Nicole Davis (Stockton, Calif.) entered the in
each of the last four sets.
"This was the first match this season that we have played with new
tactics and players," Lang Ping said. "We need more time to
practice to play well.
Berg and Crawford did not make the trip to the recently completed Pan
American Cup that was completed in early July. Further, Berg and Scott
did not start training with the U.S. team until after Team USA's
return to the Olympic Training Center following the Pan American Cup.
Nuris Arias Done paced the Dominican Republic with a match-high 26
points, including 20 kills, three blocks and three aces. Annerys Vargas
Valdez added 18 points with 14 kills and four blocks in the victory.
Cosiri Rodrirguez Andino de Dionicio provided the Dominican Republic
with 13 points, while Prisilla Rivera Brens chipped in 10 points.
"Both teams had played well, but the U.S. had better opportunities to
win," Dominican Republic libero Carmen Rosa Casa Sierra said. "They
didn't use their chances in the fourth set."
The U.S. took a 15-11 lead in the first set, withstood a Dominican
challenge as it took two leads late, and then won the opening set 25-21
on a 5-1 run to end the stanza. Dominican Republic tied the match at
one set each after it rallied from a 15-9 deficit in set two to win
25-23. The U.S. erupted to a 9-1 lead in set three en route to a 25-19
victory. The Americans led 16-13 in the fourth set, only to watch the
Dominican Republic forge into the lead at 21-19 as it went on to win
27-25 to send the match to a deciding fifth set. The Dominican Republic
overcame an early 3-1 deficit in the fifth set to take a 7-3 lead, then
used a 7-1 run to end the match at 15-8.
Later today Poland hosts Italy in the same four-team round-robin pod
named Group C. The U.S. faces host Poland tomorrow (Aug. 17) at 8 p.m.
local time (2 p.m. EDT).
Group A and B begin on Aug. 18 at Tokyo and Hong Kong. Group A includes
Brazil, Korea, Cuba and Japan. Group B consists of Russia, Azerbaijan,
China and Thailand. Next week the group pairings switch and go to
Macau, China, Seoul, South Korea, and Taipei, Chinese Taipei.
The World Grand Prix schedule has three weeks of round robin group play
of four teams at various locations. The top five teams from the
preliminary rounds of group play, together with Italy as host country,
will advance to the finals for five days of competition from Sept.
6-10.
Dominican Republic scored the first five of seven points in the opening
set to build a three-point edge at 5-2. It took an 8-5 advantage into
the first technical timeout. The Americans came out of the break on
fire with three straight points to tie the set at 8-8. Team USA took
its first lead at 10-9, then extended it to 15-11 at one point.
However, it could not reach the second technical timeout in the lead as
the Dominican Republic scored five unanswered points to a take a 16-15
lead. The U.S. would regain the lead at 18-17, but the pendulum
switched sides in favor of the leader two more times down the stretch.
The U.S. took the final lead at 21-20, then extended its margin to
23-20 en route to a 25-21 set-one victory. The first set had a total of
five lead changes and nine ties.
The two teams traded points to the open the second set until the U.S.
scored consecutive points to take a 4-3 lead. Team USA broke a 5-all
tie with three consecutive points to hit the first technical timeout
with an 8-5 advantage. The U.S., leading 9-7, went on a 4-0 run to take
a 13-7 advantage. The Dominican Republic did not score consecutive
points until it trailed 15-9, but it involved a 5-0 run that whittled a
six-point deficit down to one at 15-14. The U.S. stopped the bleeding
by going into the second technical timeout up 16-14. The Dominican
Republic continued its scoring pace by tying the set at 16-all, then
took its first lead of set two at 17-16. The U.S. tied the set at 19-19
after trailing 19-17. The teams traded points until the set was tied at
23-all. Dominican closed the set on two consecutive points for the
25-23 victory. The second set consisted of eight ties and two lead
changes.
The U.S. bolted out to a 3-1 lead in set three en route to a 9-1
advantage. Dominican Republic clawed its way back into the set by
scoring seven of the next 10 points to trail 12-8. Team USA used a
quick 3-1 scoring run to jump to a 16-9 advantage to put some distance
between the two teams. The Americans increased their margin to eight
points at 20-12, then followed through to the end with a 25-19 third
set victory.
The U.S. took quick 2-0 and 3-1 leads in set four, only to see
Dominican Republic tie the set at 3-all. The American regained its
two-point advantage at 7-5, but the Dominican Republic scored two
consecutive points to tie the set at 7-all. Down 8-7, the Dominican
Republic scored three straight points to take a short-lived 10-8 lead.
The U.S. quickly regained the advantage on a 3-0 run to turn the favor
back in its favor at 11-10. After the score was tied 11-11, the U.S.
increased its advantage to 13-11 on consecutive points. The Americans
went into the second technical timeout up 16-13. The Dominican Republic
scored three straight points out of the break to knot the score at
16-all, then took a 21-19 lead after the score was tied 19-all. The
U.S. would tie the score at 22-22, but could not get over the hump. It
saved two set points in trading serve-for-serve until the Dominican
Republic won 27-25. The fourth set had three lead changes and 11 ties.
The Americans opened the fifth set with a 3-1 lead, but would not score
on the next six serves. The Dominican Republic forged to a 7-3
advantage on a 6-0. The U.S. closed the gap to 8-7 on a 4-1 run of its
own. However, the Dominican Republic closed out the set on a 7-1 spurt
for a 15-8 victory.
Earlier this year, Dominican Republic defeated the U.S. 25-18, 25-22,
25-20 in the third-place match in the Pan American Cup on July 7 at San
Juan, Puerto Rico. The two teams will meet again in the World Grand
Prix on Aug. 27 at Macau, China, during the second week of preliminary
round-robin group action.
The Dominican Republic is fresh off winning the gold medal at the
Central American and Caribbean Games in Columbia, knocking off Cuba in
the title match. Cuba is currently ranked fourth in the FIVB world
rankings.
Additional information on the World Grand Prix can be found on the FIVB
web site at
http://www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/Competitions/WorldGrandPrix/2006/Press/News.asp.
The FIVB will have a Live Scoring Box for all matches in the
tournament, which can be accessed at
http://www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/Competitions/WorldGrandPrix/2006/Scorebox/Scorebox.asp?sm=114.
A U.S. women's national team press kit for the World Grand Prix can
be found at http://www.usavolleyball.org/national/06grandprixkit.pdf.
No. - Name (Pos, Ht, Hometown, College)
1 - Ogonna Nnamani (OH, 6-1, Normal, Ill., Stanford)
2 - Danielle Scott (MB, 6-2, Baton Rouge, La., Long Beach State)
3 - Tayyiba Haneef (OH, 6-7, Laguna Hills, Calif., Long Beach State)
4 - Lindsey Berg (S, 5-8, Honolulu, Hawai'i, Minnesota)
7 - Heather Bown (MB, 6-3, Yorba Linda, Calif., Hawai'i)
9 - Jennifer Joines (MB, 6-3, Milpitas, Calif., Pacific)
10 - Therese Crawford (OH, 5-11, Kalamazoo, Mich., Hawai'i)
12 - Nancy Metcalf (OPP, 6-1, Hull, Iowa, Nebraska)
14 - Candace Lee (L, 5-7, Eugene, Ore., Washington)
15 - Nicole Davis (L, 5-6, Stockton, Calif., Southern California)
18 - Cassie Busse (OPP, 6-1, Prior Lake, Minn., Minnesota)
19 - Lindsey Hunter (S, 5-10, Papillion, Neb., Missouri)
World Grand Prix Opening Week Notes
The U.S. has participated in all but one World Grand Prix since 1993,
missing the 1999 event. Only China, Cuba and Japan have played in all
13 World Grand Prix events. Team USA finished eighth at last year's
event after consecutive bronze-medal finishes in 2003 and 2004. The
U.S. has won the event in 1995 and 2001.
Brazil is the two-time defending champion of the World Grand Prix. It
has won five Grand Prix titles in 12 years competing in the event.
World Grand Prix (all match times local unless otherwise stated)
Group A: Tokyo, Japan (Ariake Coliseum)
Aug. 18: Brazil vs. Korea, 2 p.m.
Aug. 18: Cuba vs. Japan, 6 p.m.
Aug. 19: Cuba vs. Brazil, 2:30 p.m.
Aug. 19: Korea vs. Japan, 6 p.m.
Aug. 20: Cuba vs. Korea, 2:30 p.m.
Aug. 20: Brazil vs. Japan, 6 p.m.
Group B: Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong Coliseum)
Aug. 18: Russia vs. Azerbaijan, 7 p.m.
Aug. 18: China vs. Thailand, 9:30 p.m.
Aug. 19: Russia vs. Thailand, 1:15 p.m.
Aug. 19: China vs. Azerbaijan, 3:45 p.m.
Aug. 20: Azerbaijan vs. Thailand, 1:15 p.m.
Aug. 20: China vs. Russia, 3:45 p.m.
Group C: Bydgoszcz, Poland (Luczniczka Hall)
Aug. 16: Dominican Republic def. USA 21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 27-25, 15-8
Aug. 16: Poland vs. Italy, 8 p.m.
Aug. 17: Italy vs. Dominican Republic, 5 p.m.
Aug. 17: USA vs. Poland, 8 p.m. (2 p.m. ET)
Aug. 18: Italy vs. USA, 5 p.m. (11 a.m. ET)
Aug. 18: Poland vs. Dominican Republic, 8 p.m.
Group D: Macau (Macau Forum)
Aug. 25: Brazil vs. Dominican Republic, 6 p.m.
Aug. 25: China vs. USA, 8:30 p.m. (8:30 a.m. ET)
Aug. 26: Brazil vs. USA, 2:30 p.m. (2:30 a.m. ET)
Aug. 26: China vs. Dominican Republic, 5 p.m.
Aug. 27: USA vs. Dominican Republic, 1 p.m. (1 a.m. ET)
Aug. 28: China vs. Brazil, 4 p.m.
Group E: Seoul, Korea (Jansil Indoor Gym)
Aug. 25: Korea vs. Russia, 4 p.m.
Aug. 25: Poland vs. Japan, 7 p.m.
Aug. 26: Russia vs. Poland, 4 p.m.
Aug. 26: Korea vs. Japan, 7 p.m.
Aug. 27: Korea vs. Poland, 4 p.m.
Aug. 28: Russia vs. Japan, 7 p.m.
Group F: Taipei, Chinese Taipei (Taipei Municipal Gym)
Aug. 25: Italy vs. Azerbaijan, 2:30 p.m.
Aug. 25: Thailand vs. Cuba, 5:50 p.m.
Aug. 26: Cuba vs. Azerbaijan, 2:30 p.m.
Aug. 26: Thailand vs. Italy, 4:30 p.m.
Aug. 27: Cuba vs. Italy, 2:30 p.m.
Aug. 27: Azerbaijan vs. Thailand, 4:30 p.m.
Group G: Ningbo, China (Ningbo Beilun Gym)
Sept. 1: Cuba vs. Poland, 3 p.m.
Sept. 1: China vs. Azerbaijan, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 2: Cuba vs. Azerbaijan, 3 p.m.
Sept. 2: China vs. Poland, 7:30 p.m.
Sept. 3: Poland vs. Azerbaijan, 3 p.m.
Sept. 3: China vs. Cuba, 7:30 p.m.
Group H: Bangkok, Thailand (Nimiboot Hall)
Sept. 1: Russia vs. Korea, 2 p.m.
Sept. 1: Thailand vs. USA, 4:30 p.m. (5:30 a.m. ET)
Sept. 2: Korea vs. USA, 2 p.m. (3 a.m. ET)
Sept. 2: Russia vs. Thailand, 4:30 p.m.
Sept. 3: USA vs. Russia, 2 p.m. (3 a.m. ET)
Sept. 3: Thailand vs. Korea, 4:30 p.m.
Group I: Okayama, Japan (Momotaro Arena)
Sept. 1: Brazil vs. Italy, 2:30 p.m.
Sept. 1: Dominican Republic vs. Japan, 6 p.m.
Sept. 2: Brazil vs. Dominican Republic, 3 p.m.
Sept. 2: Italy vs. Japan, 6 p.m.
Sept. 3: Dominican Republic vs. Italy, 3 p.m.
Sept. 3: Brazil vs. Japan, 6 p.m.
Finals at Reggio Calabria, Italy
Sept. 6-10: Italy and the top five ranked teams after the preliminary
rounds will qualify for the final round