U.S. Women Roll to 5-0 after Sweeping Netherlands at VNL

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 1, 2021) – The U.S. Women’s National Team is on a roll at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League, improving to 5-0 after its victory over Netherlands 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-18) on Tuesday in Rimini, Italy.

The U.S. Women close out their second group of the Preliminary Round against Thailand on Wednesday at 3 a.m. PT. All matches are being shown live on VolleyballWorld.tv.

The U.S. Women’s serving was on point as they led in aces 7-0 and frequently put Netherlands out of system with tough serves. Setter Micha Hancock, middle blocker Tori Dixon and outside hitter Kelsey Robinson, making her 2021 VNL debut, each had two aces for the U.S. Outside hitter Jordan Larson added one.

OFFICIAL STATISTICS

“I think both of us came out a little slow; a lot of missed serves, a lot of errors,” said U.S. middle Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson. “I think once we were able to pick up the service pressure that really helped out our blocking defense and that helped us to earn more points.”

Robinson led all scorers with 13 points on 10 kills and one block to go with her two aces. Opposite Annie Drews scored 11 points on nine kills and a team-high two blocks. Larson finished with 10 points on eight kills and her two aces.

Akinradewo finished with nine points on eight kills and one block. Hancock and middle Tori Dixon each finished with five points. Hancock set the team to a .261 hitting efficiency. Netherlands finished with a .168 efficiency.

Libero Justine Wong-Orantes was credited with 14 digs and nine successful receptions. Robinson led in digs with 15 while Larson also had 14. Robinson also had nine successful receptions.

U.S. Head Coach Karch Kiraly started Larson and Robinson at outside hitter, Akinradewo and Dixon at middle blocker, Drews at opposite, Hancock at setter and Wong-Orantes at libero. He did not use any substitutes.

The teams kept the first set close and the score was tied 20-20 when Hancock jump served an ace that was clocked at 100 km an hour. Robinson followed with a kill that put the U.S. Women ahead 22-20. Netherlands scored again to pull to within one, but Larson scored with a kill and the U.S. went on to win.

The U.S. Women led the second set 9-8 when they went on a 5-0 scoring run. Robinson scored with a kill and took the serve. Drews scored with another kill before Robinson served an ace. A Netherlands scoring error and a back-row attack from Robinson put the set out of Netherlands’ reach.

The U.S. Women led 6-5 in the third set when it scored three straight points on a kill from Akinradewo and two from Hancock to increase the lead to 9-5. Netherlands never recovered.

U.S. Women’s National Team 14-Person Roster for June 1

No. Player (Position, Height, Hometown, College)

1 Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Okla., Penn State Univ.)
4 Justine Wong-Orantes (L, 5-6, Cypress, Calif., Univ. of Nebraska)
6 Tori Dixon (M, 6-3, Burnsville, Minn., Univ. of Minnesota)
7 Lauren Carlini (S, 6-2, Aurora, Ill., Univ. of Wisconsin)
8 Hannah Tapp (M, 6-3, Stewartville, Minn., Univ. of Minnesota)
10 Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Neb., Univ. of Nebraska)
11 Annie Drews (OPP, 6-4, Elkhart, Ind., Purdue Univ.)
12 Jordan Thompson (OPP, 6-4, Edina, Minn., Univ. of Cincinnati)
14 Michelle Bartsch-Hackley (OH, 6-3, Champaign, Ill., Univ. of Illinois)
15 Kim Hill (OH, 6-4, Portland, Ore., Pepperdine, Univ.)
16 Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson (M, 6-3, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Stanford Univ.)
17 Megan Courtney (L, 6-1, Dayton, Ohio, Penn State Univ.)
22 Haleigh Washington (M, 6-3, Colorado Springs, Colo., Penn State Univ.)
23 Kelsey Robinson (OH, 6-2, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Univ. of Nebraska)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coaches: Luka Slabe, Erin Virtue, Tama Miyashiro
Technical Coordinator: Jeff Liu
Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
Team Manager: Jimmy Stitz

U.S. Women’s Schedule for FIVB Volleyball Nations League (all times Pacific)

May 25: USA def Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-12)
May 26: USA def Canada, 3-0 (26-34, 25-15, 25-10)
May 27: USA def Brazil 3-1 (25-17, 25-19, 23-25, 25-22)

May 31: USA def Serbia, 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-12)
June 1: USA def Netherlands, 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-18)
June 2 at 3 a.m.: Thailand vs USA

June 6 at 10:30 a.m.: German vs USA
June 7 at 7 a.m.: Korea vs USA
June 8 at 10:30 a.m.: Italy vs USA

June 12 at 6 a.m.: USA vs Belgium
June 13 at 3 a.m.: USA vs Japan
June 14 at noon: USA vs Turkey

June 18 at 9 a.m.: Poland vs USA
June 19 at 3 a.m.: USA vs Russia
June 20 at 3 a.m.: China vs USA

June 23: Semifinals 1 and 2
June 24: Bronze and Gold medal matches