U.S. Women Fall to Undefeated Poland in 4-Set Thriller

ARLINGTON, Texas (June 1, 2024) – The U.S. Women’s National Team got 21 points from Jordan Larson and 18 from Jordan Thompson but couldn’t get past Poland on Saturday, falling 3-1 (28-26, 25-22, 20-25, 25-23) in Volleyball Nations League (VNL) preliminary round action.

The U.S. Women (4-3) will finish their first round of VNL on Sunday against world No. 1-ranked Türkiye (5-2) at 1 p.m. PT/3 p.m. CT on Sunday. Poland finished its first round on Saturday at 8-0.

MATCH STATISTICS (PDF)

At outside hitter, Larson led the U.S. in scoring with 20 kills (.475 hitting efficiency) and 21 points. “We just need to learn how to finish games. It came down to a few key points and we kind of shied away from what our job was. It is disappointing because I think we are better than what we showed today,” Larson said. “We need to show up consistently. There were plays today which we misread or misplayed something. Consistency over time wins a lot of matches.”

JOIN US FOR USA VOLLEYBALL CUP ON JULY 10/12/14 IN LONG BEACH!

At opposite, Thompson scored 18 points on 16 kills, one block, and the team’s only ace. Outside hitter Kathryn Plummer added six kills and she shared the team lead with middle blocker Haleigh Washington with three blocks for nine points.

Washington and fellow middle blocker Dana Rettke each totaled eight points. Rettke and outside hitter Avery Skinner both recorded seven kills and a block.

Opposite Magdalena Stysiak of Poland posted match-highs of 24 kills and 27 points.

The U.S. held slight advantages in kills (62-61) and blocks (13-9), but were hurt by 27 errors in such a close match.

Poland led for most of the first set before a tight finish that saw both teams with three set-point opportunities. After falling behind 24-22 on its fifth service error of the opening set, the U.S. fought off set points as Larson tooled the block and Thompson scored.

A Poland hitting error gave the U.S. its first set point. Larson and Thompson each recorded kills after Poland evened the set for two more set point chances, but Poland responded at 26-27 with three points in a row to take the set.

Larson (seven) and Thompson (six) combined for 13 kills in the first set. Plummer added five points on four kills and a block. The U.S. finished with 21 kills in the set but could not overcome nine hitting errors in addition to the errors on the serve.

“It was a frustrating loss,” U.S. Head Coach Karch Kiraly said. “It felt like we were trying to climb out of quicksand a lot.

“I thought our serving picked up in the third and fourth… We have stuff to work on for sure… We’re not taking care of the details like we need to and like I am confident we will as we get into the season.”

Neither team led by more than three points in the third set. A Larson kill gave the U.S. a 20-19 lead and Poland was unable to get past the double block of Washington and Plummer, eventually hitting a ball out. The two-point lead was the second of the set for the U.S., its largest lead of the match to that point.

A pair of hitting errors contributed to a 6-1 Poland run and a 25-22 win in the set. The U.S. offense continued to run through Larson and Thompson, who each registered five kills in the set. Plummer added four points on two kills and two blocks.

After the U.S. used a 5-1 run to even the third set at 14, Poland scored five of the next seven points to take a 19-16 lead. Kiraly called his final time out of the set and the U.S. squad responded with a 9-1 run to extend the match. Skinner scored three points in the stretch and Washington recorded two blocks in addition to a kill on a slide.

In the fourth set, the U.S. played from behind as it had done through most of the match. Poland led by three points on multiple occasions before the U.S. rallied to even the score 20-20. The set was tied three more times before a tip and kill at 23-23 gave Poland the set and match.

Larson again led the way for the U.S. in the fourth set with four kills and a block. Skinner and Thompson each scored four points. After committing 15 service errors in the first three sets, the U.S. did not have a service error in the fourth set.

Volleyball Nations League is the world’s premier annual international indoor volleyball tournament. The top 16 teams in the world play four matches a week for three weeks of preliminary competition. The top eight teams at the end of the preliminaries will go to the Final Round.

U.S. Women’s Roster for 2024 VNL Week 2
No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)

1 Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Okla., Penn State Univ., Oklahoma)
2 Jordyn Poulter (S, 6-2, Aurora, Colo., Univ. of Illinois, Rocky Mountain)
3 Avery Skinner (OH, 6-1, Katy, Texas, Univ. of Kentucky and Baylor, Lone Star)
4 Justine Wong-Orantes (L, 5-6, Cypress, Calif., Univ. of Nebraska, Southern California)
5 Ali Frantti (OH, 6-1, Spring Grove, Ill., Penn State, Great Lakes)
6 Morgan Hentz (L, 5-9, Lakeside Park, Ky., Stanford Univ., Pioneer)
10 Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Neb., Univ. of Nebraska, Great Plains)
12 Jordan Thompson (Opp, 6-4, Edina, Minn., Univ. of Cincinnati, North Country)
15 Haleigh Washington (MB, 6-3, Colorado Springs, Colo., Penn State Univ., Rocky Mountain)
16 Dana Rettke (MB, 6-8, Riverside, Ill., Univ. of Wisconsin, Great Lakes)
18 Asjia O’Neal (MB, 6-3, Southlake, Texas, Univ. of Texas, North Texas)
22 Kathryn Plummer (OH, 6-6, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
24 Chiaka Ogbogu (MB, 6-2, Coppell, Texas, Univ. of Texas, North Texas)
29 Khalia Lanier (OH, 6-2, Scottsdale, Ariz., Univ. of Southern California, Arizona)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Tama Miyashiro
Second Assistant Coaches: Marv Dunphy, Alfee Reft, Erin Virtue
Performance Analyst: Rianne Verhoek
Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
Team Doctor: Lori Boyajian-O’Neill
Consultant Coaches: Sue Enquist, Katy Stanfill
Team Manager: Coley Pawlikowski
General Managers: Peter Vint

U.S. Women’s Schedule for the 2024 Volleyball Nations League
Matches will be shown live and on-demand on VolleyballWorld.tv
(All times PDT)

Week 1 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
May 15 USA def Thailand 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-12, 25-18)
May 16 China def USA 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-19)
May 17 Brazil def USA 3-1 (25-22, 25-16, 18-25, 25-19)
May 19 USA def Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18)

Week 2 in Arlington, Texas
May 28 USA def Canada 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 25-20)
May 31 USA def Bulgaria 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-22)
June 1 Poland def. USA 3-1 (28-26, 25-22, 20-25, 25-23)
June 2 at 1 p.m. PT/3 p.m. CT USA vs Türkiye

Week 3 in Fukuoka, Japan
June 10 at 11:30 p.m. USA vs France
June 12 at 8 p.m. USA vs Netherlands
June 14 at 11:30 p.m. USA vs Italy
June 16 at 2:45 a.m. USA vs Japan

Final Round: June 20-23 in Bangkok, Thailand.