With the victory, China set up a title-vying encounter with Serbia, who made their first ever entry to an Olympic final by edging the United States 20-25, 25-17, 25-20, 16-25, 15-13.
Advertisement
Serbia, playing in only its third Olympic Games, will be playing in the gold-medal match for the first time on Saturday against the victor of Netherlands and China.
The U.S. women’s volleyball team’s quest for its first Olympic gold ended Thursday as the squad fell to Serbia in five sets.
The top-ranked American women look to move one step closer to a first gold when they take on Serbia in the semifinals at 12 p.m. ET.
The United States adjusted its players, battled back to win the fourth set and were leading the tie-breaker before going down.
Then it disappeared. The Americans reverted to the mental lapses that sabotaged them in the second and third sets and lost eight of the final 11 points. Serbia played very solid ball, while the U.S. committed a wide range of unforced errors. She never returned to the court.
The match seemed to swing after Team USA star Foluke Akinradewo went down with an injury that appeared to affect her left leg in the second set.
In the second set, the US had no answer for Serbia and Brankica Mihajlovic, who absolutely took over in the middle two sets and finished with 22 points and five blocks.
After the match, Team USA coach and volleyball legend Karch Kiraly told reporters “this one cuts deep”. “Everything we have, everything we need is already inside us”. The Americans led 12-10 in the fifth set when Karsta Lowe served into the net, then Milena Rasic answered with an ace.
Without her long arms putting up a solid wall in the middle, Brankica Mihajlovic (17 kills, five blocks) and Tijana Boskovic (18 kills) took over to give the sixth-ranked Serbians a commanding 2-1 lead.
We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely.
Advertisement
The U.S. women were heavily favored to win the gold medal, especially after China upset Brazil in the quarterfinals. “I think we were a little distracted there for a second because we care so much for her”, said captain Christa Harmotto Dietzen, a former Penn State All-American. “We’re two of the best teams in the world and we are going to expose all the weaknesses”.
