COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 10, 2017) – The U.S. Women’s National Team finished the FIVB Women’s World Grand Champions Cup with the bronze medal after finishing the six-team, round-robin event held in Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan, with a 3-2 record.
Jordan Larson (Hooper, Nebraska) was awarded with the Best Spiker Award as part of the tournament’s Dream Team. She was Team USA’s leading scorer with 70 points as she totaled 62 kills, six blocks and two aces. Larson ranked seventh overall in scoring for the tournament.
The U.S. opened the tournament by winning the first set against eventual gold medalist China 25-18, but the world’s No. 1 ranked team came back to win the match in four sets. The Americans recovered by sweeping Korea in the second match played in Tokyo before the teams transferred to Nagoya for the final three days of competition.
Team USA won two thrilling five-set matches against No. 5 Russia and host Japan, ranked No. 6 in the world, to move into medal contention on the final day of competition. However, Brazil blanked the Americans in a matchup to determine who would take home the silver medal. With the loss, the U.S. needed to await the results of the China-Japan match to see whether a podium spot was in the cards. China, who had already clinched the gold medal heading into the final day, needed to defeat Japan to give the Americans the bronze. In the end, China won the match in four sets presenting the Americans the podium spot.
Opposite Annie Drews (Elkhart, Indiana), who ended her rookie season, turned in 69 points (58 kills, 9 blocks, 2 aces) to finish eighth in scoring for the tournament. Outside Kim Hill (Portland, Oregon) contributed 57 points to rank 12th overall in the competition.
Drews converted 38.9 percent of her attacks for 10 place, while Larson was 11th with a 37.1 kill percent. Drews ranked 14th in Best Blocker with a 0.45 block average and Rachael Adams (Cincinnati, Ohio) was 18th at 0.35 blocks per set. Hill was fifth in Best Server with 0.35 aces per set and Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Florida) was 10th at 0.25 aces per set.
The American setters of Lauren Carlini (Aurora, Illinois) and Carli Lloyd (Bonsall, California) split time as the starting setter during the tournament. Carlini held a 6.35 running sets per set average for fourth best, while Lloyd had a 5.25 running sets average for fifth place. The combination of the two setters would have led the tournament setting position.
Larson ranked second in Best Digger with 2.85 digs per set behind the Japanese libero Kotoe Inoue’s 3.43 digs per set. Larson was credited with a 44.26 reception efficiency (60 positive on 122 chances) for fourth best in the tournament. Hill added 1.75 digs per set for 10th best, while USA libero Megan Courtney (Dayton, Ohio) ranked 12th in Best Digger with 1.70 digs per set.
U.S. Scoring at the FIVB Women’s World Grand Champions Cup
Jordan Larson (Hooper, Nebraska) – 70 points (62 kills, 6 Blocks, 2 aces)
Annie Drews (Elkhart, Indiana) – 69 points (58 kills, 9 blocks, 2 aces)
Kim Hill (Portland, Oregon) – 57 points (47 kills, 3 blocks, 7 aces)
Rachael Adams (Cincinnati, Ohio) – 39 points (28 kills, 7 blocks, 4 aces)
Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Florida) – 39 points (29 kills, 5 blocks, 5 aces)
Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minnesota) – 34 points (26 kills, 6 blocks, 2 aces)
Michelle Bartsch-Hackley (Maryville, Illinois) – 22 points (16 kills, 2 blocks, 4 aces)
Tori Dixon (Burnsville, Minnesota) – 14 points (10 kills, 4 blocks, 0 aces)
Carli Lloyd (Bonsall, California) – 10 points (3 kills, 6 blocks, 1 ace)
Lauren Carlini (Aurora, Illinois) – 5 points (1 kill, 2 blocks, 2 aces)
Aiyana Whitney (Norwood, New Jersey) – 1 point (1 kill, 0 blocks, 0 0 aces)
FIVB World Grand Champions Cup Final Standings
Gold – China (5-0, 14 points)
Silver – Brazil (3-2, 11 points)
Bronze – USA (3-2, 7 points)
4. Russia (2-3, 7 points)
5. Japan (2-3, 6 points)
6. Korea (0-5, 0 points)
U.S. Women’s National Team Roster for FIVB World Grand Champions Cup
# – Player (Position, Height, College, Hometown)
3 – Carli Lloyd (S, 5-11, California, Bonsall, California)
4 – Justine Wong-Orantes (L, 5-6, Nebraska, Cypress, California)
5 – Rachael Adams (M, 6-2, Texas, Cincinnati, Ohio)
6 – Tori Dixon (M, 6-3, Minnesota, Burnsville, Minnesota)
7 – Lauren Carlini (S, 6-2, Wisconsin, Aurora, Illinois)
8 – Lauren Gibbemeyer (M, 6-2, Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota)
9 – Madi Kingdon (OH, 6-1, Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona)
10 – Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Nebraska, Hooper, Nebraska)
11 – Annie Drews (OPP, 6-4, Purdue, Elkhart, Indiana)
14 – Michelle Bartsch-Hackley (OH, 6-3, Illinois, Maryville, Illinois)
15 – Kim Hill (OH, 6-4, Pepperdine, Portland, Oregon)
16 – Foluke Akinradewo (M, 6-3, Stanford, Plantation, Florida)
17 – Megan Courtney (L, 6-1, Penn State, Dayton, Ohio)
29 – Aiyana Whitney (OPP, 6-5, Penn State, Norwood, New Jersey)
Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coaches: Tama Miyashiro, Marv Dunphy
Consultant Coaches: Sander Cohen, John Crawley
Technical Coordinator: Jeff Hicks
Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
Doctor: Dr. Andrew Gregory
Dietitian: Shawn Hueglin
Team Manager: Jimmy Stitz
2017 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup Schedule
Sept. 5: Brazil def. Russia 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-12
Sept. 5: China def. USA 18-25, 25-18, 25-14, 25-17
Sept. 5: Japan def. Korea 25-23, 25-21, 26-24
Sept. 6: China def. Brazil 25-20, 25-12, 20-25, 23-25, 19-17
Sept. 6: USA def. Korea 25-22, 25-20, 25-16 (Watch Replay)
Sept. 6: Russia def. Japan 22-25, 25-18, 25-22, 28-26
Sept. 8: USA def. Russia 23-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 15-9 (Watch Replay)
Sept. 8: China def. Korea 25-14, 25-4, 25-12
Sept. 8: Japan def. Brazil 25-18, 25-27, 25-15, 16-25, 15-6
Sept. 9: China def. Russia 25-20, 25-18, 25-20
Sept. 9: Brazil def. Korea 25-15, 25-10, 25-23
Sept. 9: USA def. Japan 22-25, 25-21, 26-28, 25-21, 15-12 (Watch Replay)
Sept. 10: Russia def. Korea 25-19, 25-16, 25-21
Sept. 10: Brazil def. USA 25-20, 25-23, 25-19 (Watch Replay)
Sept. 10: China def. Japan 25-22, 24-26, 25-18, 25-16