Tuesday, November 14, 2006
USA enters the final two days of the FIVB World Volleyball Championships in the 9th to 12th classification rounds
USA's Women's National Volleyball Team, ranked world's no. 6 at the start of the 2006 FIVB World Championships, performed admirably during round one of the tournament:
- Oct. 31: USA def. Kazakhstan 19-25, 25-19, 25-19, 26-28, 16-14
- Nov. 1: USA def. Netherlands 25-19, 25-22, 27-29, 20-25, 15-7
- Nov. 3: USA def. Cameroon 25-17, 25-18, 25-11
- Nov. 4: Brazil def. USA 25-23, 25-21, 25-13
- Nov. 5: USA def. Puerto Rico 25-14, 25-16, 25-15
But US fortunes were totally reversed in Round two:
- Nov. 8: China def. USA 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-17
- Nov. 9: Azerbaijan def. USA 25-19, 16-25, 25-22, 25-27, 15-13
- Nov. 11: Russia def. USA 25-20, 25-21, 25-17
- Nov. 12: USA def. Germany 25-27, 25-23, 19-25, 26-24, 15-11
Had the US outscored Germany by four points for the entire match on Sunday and had China defeated the Netherlands on Sunday, the US would have entered the 5th to 8th classification rounds in keeping with its pre-tournament ranking. Neither proved to be the case.
For complete information, this USA Basketball press release (however, be forewarned, it is fairly technical).
As for pictures, rest asured you will be seeing those for at least the rest of the year (if not until the next world chanpionship) (my skills as an image surfer were honed in these environs.)
