Laurel Iversen The U.S. Women's National Team celebrates its victory over Japan, and its FIVB World Grand Prix title in undefeated fashion. USA*USA*USA*

We WON! We beat Japan three straight clinching the title. So no need to worry about points. Each set was very close but we played with an incredible amount of patience and resolve. That’s not easy to do against Japan. It is indeed a great victory for this team that hasn’t played together for very long. Our veterans mixed with the talented young players found a rare equilibrium that even the most experienced teams find hard to capture.

You can imagine how proud we are of the entire group’s effort to emerge with the title of Grand Prix Champions after four grueling weeks of matches and travel. The team started playing the first weekend in August in Poland, then moved to Thailand for the 2nd round. I joined them in Hong Kong for the 3rd round and the finals here in Ningbo. Our trainer, Jill Wosmek and Dr. Sherwin Ho kept this group healthy and injury free throughout the long tournament. It’s not an easy task for 14 women to get along for four weeks on the road under very stressful conditions, but this group was upbeat and fun to be around.

Laurel Iversen The U.S. celebrates its victory. Assistant coaches, Karch Kiraly, Jamie Morrison and Jim Stone put in countless hours scouting the other teams and preparing video analysis and scouting reports on every team - sometimes with a short turn-around time. They did a fantastic job providing detailed information for the team on all aspects of our opponents.

I feel very fortunate to be a part of this tremendous experience. I enjoyed working with all the gals and staff and helping out in all the tasks at hand. It was a pleasure to be part of this great USA team with a big future ahead of them. Although I am ready to return home to Kaua‘i, I’m sure I will miss the excitement of the highest level of competition in volleyball. It was sure great to see all of these teams play.

Laurel Iversen The U.S. celebrates its victory. Attached are a couple of photos. We will return to the arena in a few hours for the end of the China – Brazil match which will determine 2nd and 3rd places and for the Awards Ceremony and player awards. The best teams receive monetary awards and the best players also receive individual cash prizes. I will send one more blog this evening to give you the news.

Mahalo nui loa for reading this, and for your support.

Laurel