Youth Olympic Games Silver Medal for USA

Bill Kauffman
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

Official Stats - Additional Quotes

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 26, 2010) – The U.S. Girls’ Youth Olympic Volleyball Team lost to Belgium 17-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-12 on Thursday morning in the inaugural Youth Olympic Games gold-medal match for girls’ indoor volleyball in Singapore and will come home with the silver medal.

Taylor Simpson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) tallied a match-high 18 points with 11 kills on 30 attacks, six blocks and an ace. Micha Hancock (Edmond, Okla.) added nine points with four aces, three blocks and two kills. Crystal Graff (Madison, Wis.) scored all nine of her points on kills. Lauren Teknipp (McDonough, Ga.) chipped in four blocks, three kills and an ace. Samantha Cash (San Diego, Calif.) contributed seven points, while Katie Mitchell (The Woodlands, Texas) rounded out the scoring with six points.

The Americans, who played the gold-medal match without an injured 6-6 opposite hitter Liz McMahon (Liberty Township, Ohio), opened the Youth Olympic Games with a five-set victory (25-22, 15-25, 25-20, 18-25, 15-11) over Belgium in Pool B competition. McMahon produced a team-high 13 points in the first meeting with Belgium and was averaging a team-best 3.45 points per set. According to the FIVB Junior and Youth World Rankings for females, Belgium is the highest ranked team in the Youth Olympics with a No. 6 ranking, while the U.S. is ranked 14th, the fourth-highest in the tournament.

Team USA built an early 8-2 lead in the opening set and held as large as a 10-point advantage at 17-7 before finalizing the set at 25-17. Simpson and Graff turned in five points apiece in the opening set to lead the American offense. Belgium launched a 7-1 scoring run to overcome a 17-16 deficit in the second set to win 25-20. Simpson scored an American-high six points in the set. Trailing 2-0 in the third set, Belgium rolled off eight unanswered points to take a commanding 8-2 lead and cruised to a 25-18 victory. Belgium never let the USA back into the fourth set using a 12-1 scoring run to reach match point at 24-10 before close the set at 25-12.

“We won the silver medal,” said Cash, the U.S. team captain. It’s an Olympic medal. That’s a really good thing. Belgium played a great match, and they came out, and they were fired up. It was a great game. I’m happy to be a part of it. My team is amazing. That we even accomplished this much after just being here in Singapore and training is truly incredible.”

Team USA held a 16-12 advantage in blocks, but Belgium commanding the offense with a 49-35 kill advantage and 10-6 margin in aces. The Americans provided the Belgians 21 points in errors.

U.S. Girls' Youth Olympic Team Head Coach Rod Wilde indicated the difference between the first set and the rest of the match was in USA’s serve-receive.

“We would end up not being able to pass the ball, either shanking it completely or making such a bad pass that we couldn’t run our offense,” Wilde said. “You can’t do anything if you can’t pass.”

Despite the troubles, Wilde stated the team should still be proud for its accomplishment of taking away the silver medal.

“They’re silver medalists and nobody can ever take that away from them,” Wilde said. “They earned that. There’s no shame in losing a match to a team that’s playing better. They just have to fight and find a way to be in there and they did.

“They worked very hard to bond together throughout the whole event,” Wilde continued. “Some of the girls had never even met each other before, so the opportunity to come and put the team together and represent your country regardless of how it’s presented is important. I was very proud of the players for being able to put aside their differences, find a way to bond together and fight as hard as they could. We got beat by a better team today; we were the better team the last time we played. That’s sport. You go out and you fight, you try to win every match, every point, and this time we came up short.”

Wilde started Hancock at setter, Graff at opposite, Simpson and Mitchell at outside hitter, and Cash and Teknipp at middle blocker. Tiffany Morales (Redondo Beach, Calif.) was the designated libero for the match. Jade Hayes (Ozark, Mo.) was a sub in the second and fourth sets, while Olivia Okoro (Carrollton, Texas) was a sub in the last two sets.

With the absence of the team’s leading scorer heading into the gold-medal match, Wilde mentioned it was unfortunate accident that happens in sport.

“Unfortunately in sports there are things that you cannot control,” Wilde said. “Elizabeth was simply walking up to the Village to get something to eat and tripped over a little chain that was across the road and landed on her arm and broke her arm. It’s something we had no control over. You take your top scorer from your team and obviously that’s a big part of your offense and transition. She was our top scorer, so obviously that impacts how well we can play. It didn’t have an effect on our passing, but maybe we could have scored out of some of those situations where we didn’t have good passes.”

Belgium was led by Laura Heyrman’s 16 points via 14 kills on 26 attacks and two blocks. Ilka Van De Vyver added 10 kills on 25 attacks, four aces and a block for 15 points.

“We focused a lot on the previous match we had against USA, because it was the first time some met them,” Belgium Head Coach Julie Van De Vyver said. “During the time out I told my players to organize every single action at the best, without thinking about the score. This is a historic moment for my players because an Olympic game is only every fourth year.”

Despite falling behind, Mitchell said the team never gave up in the match.

“I think we did well on not giving up,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t play as individuals. We came together as a team and fought to the very last point. We didn’t point at each other and say ‘Why didn’t you get that ball?’ Instead, we said, ‘We’re going to get that ball; we play American volleyball.”

“They grew as a whole unit," Wilde said. "They spent a lot of time together off the court, doing things in the Village. They’re going to have a lifelong experience here and be friends with the people on this team for the rest of their careers. From that aspect, it was a great success.

Peru claimed the bronze medal with a 22-25, 30-28, 25-11, 25-17 victory over Japan on Aug. 25.

For a full recap of the entire Youth Olympic Games in the girls' indoor volleyball competition, visit usavolleyball.org/events/4749.

Hancock served an ace on the very first play of the match and Graff followed with consecutive kills to give the Americans a 3-0 lead in the opening set. Simpson and Teknipp collected kills to push the lead to 5-1. Simpson smashed a kill and Belgium followed with an error to give the U.S. a 7-2 lead. Teknipp served an ace to provide an 8-2 advantage at the first technical timeout. Belgium came out of the break with four of the next five points to cut the deficit to 9-6. Team USA answered with consecutive kills from Cash and Hancock to regain a five-point edge at 11-6. Out of a Belgium timeout, Cash put up a block, Graff slammed a kill through the block and Belgium hit long to increase the American advantage to 14-6. Out of Belgium’s second timeout, it hit long again to extend the USA run to six points and the lead to 15-6. Graff hammered a kill and Cash dug a pass that crossed the net uncovered to increase the U.S. margin to 17-7. Belgium answered with four consecutive points to slice the deficit to 17-11. Team USA responded with a Simpson kill after a Belgium service error, then Hancock served her second ace of the set for 20-11 advantage. Graff followed with a fourth straight point with a kill at 21-11. Belgium served an ace after a kill to narrow the deficit to 21-13. Simpson crushed a kill after a Belgium error to push the lead to 23-14. Belgium saved two set points before the U.S. finished the set at 25-17 on an error.

The U.S. gained a two-point edge at 3-1 with a Teknipp kill and Simpson block. Belgium quickly tied launched a four-point scoring run to take a 5-3 advantage leading to an American timeout. Belgium increased its lead to three points out of the break with an ace at 6-3. Mitchell stopped the run with a kill and Belgium followed with a hitting error to close the score to 6-5. Belgium went into the first technical timeout with consecutive points at 8-5. Belgium scored a kill and block out of the break to double-up the Americans at 10-5. Simpson stopped the run with a kill and ace at 10-7. Belgium responded with two points of its own to move to 12-7. Graff pocketed a kill and Teknipp blocked a Belgium attack to cut the deficit to 13-10. Teknipp and Simpson scored consecutive blocks to close the Americans to within two at 14-12 prompting a Belgium timeout. Out of the break, Teknipp and Simpson formed a block and Hancock served her third ace of the match to tie the score at 14-all. After a Belgium service error, Simpson crushed a kill that caromed off the Belgium dig into the roof giving the U.S. a 16-15 advantage at the second technical timeout. Belgium went back into the lead at 18-17 following a Team USA attack error, then added to the lead with a kill and ace at 20-17 as part of a 4-0 scoring run. Belgium built its lead to five at 23-18 with consecutive blocks. Cash slammed a kill after a Belgium error to inch to 23-20, but Belgium answered with the final two points at 25-20.

The Americans earned a 2-0 advantage to start the third set with a Graff kill and Belgium error. Belgium scored the next five points to take a 5-2 lead prompting a USA timeout. Belgium added to the run with three points out of the break for a 8-2 advantage at the first technical timeout. Teknipp stopped the run with a block and Simpson followed with a kill. Belgium turned right around and scored three consecutive points to gain an 11-4 margin, then added to its lead with an ace and kill at 15-6. Cash and Graff scored consecutive kills out of the second technical timeout and Belgium hit long to allow the Americans to move the gap to 16-10. Belgium got two of the points back to return to an 18-10 advantage. Belgium reached a 10-point advantage at 21-11 with an ace. USA scored consecutive points on Belgium errors to slice the score to 21-13. Mitchell tallied a kill and Cash put up a block to put the score at 23-16. Cash and Mitchell saved two set points with blocks at 24-18 prompting a Belgium timeout. Belgium scored the next point out of the break for a 25-18 victory.

Belgium scored the first three points of the fourth set, two of which were on USA errors. Hancock served an ace between two Simpson kills to tie the score at 3-all. Belgium went back in front by two at 6-4 with a kill after a USA service error. Belgium went into the first technical timeout with consecutive points and an 8-5 lead. Out of the break, Belgium added to the lead with a kill at 9-5. Belgium collected four unanswered points to extend the advantage to 16-9 at the second technical timeout. Belgium served an ace and slammed two kills out of the break to send the score to 19-9 as part of a 7-0 run. After a Hancock kill, Belgium scored five unanswered points to reach a 24-10 lead. USA saved two match points with kills from Simpson and Mitchell, but Belgium closed the match with a 25-12 victory.

The Youth Olympic Games is hosting 3,600 athletes from ages 14-18 that participate on one of 26 different sports. Over 20 National Olympic Committees are participating in the Games. The goal of the event is to teach athletes the basics of Olympism, their ability to have a positive impact on those around them and learning about new cultures. Five educational themes are the driving force of the event; Olympism, skills development, well-being and healthy lifestyle, social responsibility and expression.

Along with these educational themes, the event is doing its part in helping the environment and hopefully engaging an estimated 26,000 spectators to “Go Green." All of the venues hosting the Games have been declared as environmentally-friendly.

Several Web sites are available for the general fan to follow the volleyball action at the Youth Olympic Games. For statistics, photos and other match information, the FIVB has a site portal devoted to the Youth Olympic Games. To reach the site, click here. The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Youth Olympic Games site for results and information can be found by clicking here.

The Youth Olympic Games video programming will air daily at 2 p.m. ET and be repeated at midnight ET from August 15-27. The show will feature all 26 sports contended over the 13-day duration of the Youth Olympic Games. Universal Sports’ (universalsports.com) show will feature highlights, news and information based on the day’s events. There will also be VOD highlights available on universalsports.com.

2010 U.S. Youth Olympic Games Roster:
# - Player (Position, Height, Hometown, Club, Region)
3 - Samantha Cash (MB, 6-3, San Diego, Calif., Coast Volleyball Club, Southern California)
4 - Crystal Graff (OH, 6-3, Madison, Wis., Capital Volleyball Club, Badger)
5 - Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Okla., Oklahoma Peak, Oklahoma)
6 - Jade Hayes (OH/L, 6-0, Ozark, Mo., Springfield Juniors, Heart of America)
7 - Christina Higgins (OH, 6-2, Inglewood, Calif., Sport Shack, Southern California)
8 - Madison Kamp (S, 6-1, Orland, Ill., Ultimate VBC, Great Lakes)
10 - Elizabeth McMahon (MB, 6-6, Liberty Township, Ohio, Team Z, Ohio Valley)
11 - Katie Mitchell (OH, 6-3, The Woodlands, Texas, Texas Pride VBC, Lone Star)
12 - Tiffany Morales (Libero, 5-5, Redondo Beach, Calif., Mizuno Long Beach, Southern California)
14 - Olivia Okoro (MB, 6-1, Carrollton, Texas, Dallas Premier, North Texas)
16 - Taylor Simpson (OH, 6-3, Colorado Springs, Colo., Colorado Juniors, Rocky Mountain)
17 - Lauren Teknipp (MB/OH, 6-2, McDonough, Ga., A5, Southern)

Head Coach: Rod Wilde (USA)
Assistant Coach: Charlene Johnson-Tagaloa (USA)

2010 Youth Olympic Games
Aug. 21-26 (Singapore)

Toa Payoh Sports Hall (Volleyball)
(All Times Listed as Local Time)

Pool A
August 21: Peru def. Singapore 25-11, 25-13, 25-12
August 22: Japan def. Singapore 25-9, 25-16, 25-9
August 23: Peru def. Japan 25-22, 25-19, 25-18

Pool B
August 21: Belgium def. Egypt 25-11, 25-12, 25-10
August 22: USA def. Belgium 25-22, 15-25, 25-20, 18-25, 15-11
August 23: USA def. Egypt 25-18, 25-19, 25-23

Semifinal
August 24: Belgium (B2) def. Peru (A1) 25-19, 19-25, 25-21, 25-22
August 24: USA (B1) def. Japan (A2) 25-20, 25-23, 25-22

5-6 Classification
August 25: Egypt def. Singapore 20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-19

Bronze Medal
August 25: Peru def. Japan 22-25, 30-28, 25-11, 25-17

Gold Medal
August 26: Belgium def. USA 17-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-12

Tags: 2010 U.S. Girls' Youth Olympic Team, 2010 Youth Olympic Games, Crystal Graff, FIVB, FIVB World Grand Prix, Jade Hayes, Katie Mitchell, Lauren Teknipp, Liz McMahon, Madison Kamp, Micha Hancock, Olivia Okoro, Rod Wilde, Samantha Cash, Taylor Simpson, Tiffany Morales, YOG, youth, Youth Olympic Games, Youth Olympics