U.S. Women Take Silver at 2023 NORCECA Continental Championship

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 3, 2023) – The U.S. Women’s National Team earned a silver medal after falling, 3-2 (12-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 15-13) to the Dominican Republic on Sunday in the final of the 2023 NORCECA Championship in Quebec.

The gold medal was the third consecutive in the event for Dominican Republic, which was swept by the U.S. in pool play on Thursday.

MATCH STATISTICS (PDF)

“Congratulations to Dominican. They made some nice adjustments and played a great match. It was an exceptional win for them,” conceded U.S. Head Coach Karch Kiraly. “Of course, we are really disappointed to be on the losing end of that. After the first set, they tried some different combinations and threw more at us than we could handle.”

The U.S. held a 60-53 advantage in kills and a 7-3 lead in aces, while recording one less block (9-8). They made only three more errors (31-28) in the match, but they committed seven hitting errors with two service errors in the deciding set.

Opposite Jordan Thompson led all scorers with 21 points on 17 kills, three blocks, and one ace. Middle blocker Dana Rettke was the only other U.S. player to reach double digits with 11 points on eight kills, two blocks, and one ace.

Outside hitter Jordan Larson totaled nine points on eight kills and an ace, and outside hitter Ali Frantti contributed eight points on seven kills and one ace.

Middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu finished with six points on four kills and two blocks, while opposite Annie Drews and outside hitter Avery Skinner each recorded four kills.

After losing three of the first four points in the first set, the U.S, went on a 6-1 run to take a 7-4 lead and never looked back. Rettke led the way with six points with a block and kills on each of her five attacks for the U.S. team, which hit .481 as a team in the set.

Dominican Republic scored the first three points of the second set and never trailed. The lead was six points, 21-15, before a 5-1 U.S. run cut the lead to two points. Dominican Republic closed out the set with three of the final four points. Thompson recorded six kills in the set.

The U.S. led throughout the third set, including 24-15, before Dominican Republic fought off four set points. Thompson led all scorers with seven points on four kills and three of her team’s four blocks in the set.

Dominican Republic called a quick timeout down 6-2 in the fourth set and responded with an 8-4 run to even the set at 10. From that point on, the Dominican squad took control to even the match.

The two-time defending champions opened the fifth set with two blocks and never trailed in taking the set and match. Dominican Republic led 14-10 before consecutive points by Haleigh Washington, Kelsey Cook, and Rettke closed the deficit to one point before the clincher.

Host Canada took home the bronze medal with a win over Cuba in the third-place match.

The U.S. Women’s National Team heads to Poland later this week for the FIVB Women’s Road to Paris Olympic qualifier on Sept. 16-24.

U.S. Women’s Roster for 2023 NORCECA Championship

No. Name (Pos., Ht., Hometown, College, USAV Region)
1C Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Okla., Penn State Univ., Oklahoma)
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)
7 Lauren Carlini (S, 6-2, Aurora, Ill., Univ. of Wisconsin, Great Lakes)
10 Jordan Larson (OH, 6-2, Hooper, Neb., Univ. of Nebraska, Great Plains)
11 Annie Drews (Opp, 6-4, Elkhart, Ind., Purdue Univ., Hoosier)
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)
22 Kathryn Plummer (OH, 6-6, Aliso Viejo, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
23 Kelsey (Robinson) Cook (OH, 6-2, Manhattan Beach, Calif., Univ. of Nebraska, Southern California)
24 Chiaka Ogbogu (MB, 6-2, Coppell, Texas, Univ. of Texas, North Texas)
27 Avery Skinner (OH, 6-1, Katy, Texas, Baylor, Lone Star)

Head Coach: Karch Kiraly
Assistant Coach: Tama Miyashiro
Second Assistant Coaches: Alfee Reft, Erin Virtue
Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer: Kara Kessans
Performance Analyst: Rianne Verhoek
Strength & Conditioning Coach: Brandon Siakel
Team Manager: Dana Burkholder
Team Doctor: William Stetson
Massage Therapist: Ricardo Brambila

U.S. Referee: Jung Park

NORCECA Championship Results

Aug. 29 USA def. Costa Rica, 3-0 (25-3, 25-13, 25-5)
Aug. 30 USA def. Cuba, 3-0 (25-8, 25-17, 25-14)
Aug. 31 USA def. Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-16)
Sept. 2 Semifinal, USA def. Cuba, 3-0 (25-12, 25-11, 25-16)
Sept. 3 Gold Medal Match, Dominican Republic def. USA, 3-2 (12-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 15-13)