U.S. Women to Play for 2024 Pan Am Cup Gold

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 24, 2024) –The U.S. Women’s National Team earned a trip to the gold medal match at the 2024 NORCECA Pan American Cup with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 28-26) victory over the Dominican Republic in León, Mexico on Saturday.

The U.S. moves into Sunday’s gold medal match at 7 p.m. PT and will take on the winner of Saturday’s second semifinal between Colombia and Argentina.

MATCH STATISTICS

The U.S. finished with a six-kill advantage (50-44) in the match and led in blocks (8-4), while Argentina served one more ace (4-3). In a match where both teams hit at a better than .300 efficiency percentage, the U.S. scored on 17 opponent errors compared to 15 for Argentina.

“We had a great match. We played so clean and executed so well in the first set, but as the Dominican Republic always does, they fight back and respond. They pushed us,” said head coach Brad Rostratter. “Though it was a three-set match, it was a lot tougher than that. We were really proud of our way to respond to them continually, even in that third set when we had our backs against the wall. We were able to keep fighting, stay steady, and trusting each other and our group. I’m super proud of them that they get to compete for a gold medal tomorrow night.”

Opposite Kendall Kipp hit the 20-point plateau for the second consecutive match and setter Jenna Gray led the offense to a .364 hitting efficiency percentage. Kipp totaled 18 kills, two blocks, and 11 digs. Gray finished with five points on three kills, a block and an ace, adding four digs.

“I’m really proud of us and I think we did a great job taking care of business, Kipp said. “We talked about how much this (Dominican Republic) team was going to battle and challenge us. We executed our scouting report really well,” said Kipp, who registered 10 of her 18 kills in the final set.

Libero Zoe Fleck’s 21 digs were 10 more than the next-highest total and she shared the team-lead with outside hitter Claire Hoffman with 13 successful receptions. Hoffman was the second on the team with 11 kills. Outside Roni Jones-Perry also reached double digits in scoring with 10 kills, a block and an ace. She added seven successful receptions and four digs.

Tia Jimerson (five kills in nine attacks) and Serena Gray (three blocks in five attacks) combined to hit .615 out of the middle blocker spot. Jimerson shared the match-high with three blocks, while Gray also contributed a block and an ace. Outside Jaali Winters recorded three digs.

Trailing 6-5 in the opening set, the U.S. went on a 9-2 run and were never challenged after that. A Jenna Gray kill on a dump gave the U.S. the lead for good. Hoffman registered five kills with Kipp also scoring five points with four kills and a block. The U.S. hit at a .485 efficiency percentage with 18 kills and only two errors in 33 total attacks.

The Dominican Republic led for the majority of the second set, matching its match-high lead of three points at 16-13. Kipp scored on a kill off the block and recorded a block to cut the lead to one point. A hitting error that started with a tough Serena Gray block evened the set for the first time since 5-5.

Another hitting error and a Hoffman kill capped a 5-0 U.S. run to make it 18-16 and force a second timeout in a four-point span. Back-to-back kills by Jimerson and a kill by Jones-Perry gave the U.S. its biggest advantage of the set, five points at 23-18. The Dominican Republic defended four match points to come within a point, 24-23. After a timeout, a Jones-Perry kill off a set from Fleck gave the U.S. a 2-0 set lead. Jones-Perry led all players with seven points on six kills and a block, and Jimerson added six points on four kills and two blocks.

The U.S. used a 4-0 run to take a 10-7 lead in the third set. Great hustle by Fleck led to a Jones-Perry kill that gave the U.S. the lead, 8-7. The Dominican Republic trailed by just one point, 20-19, when the U.S. called a timeout. A service error and a Jones-Perry ace raised the lead back to three, but the Dominican Republic ran off five consecutive points to take the lead for the first time since leading 7-6 and earn a pair of set points.

A Hoffman kill and Jimerson block evened the set at 24 and after yielding the next point, the U.S. defended its third set point on a Kipp kill. After the Dominican Republic fought off a match point, the U.S. finished the set and match on a Kipp kill and a service error.

U.S. Women’s Roster for the 2024 NORCECA Pan American Cup
4 Logan Eggleston (OH, 6-2, Brentwood, Tenn., Univ. of Texas, Southern)
5 Kendall Kipp (Opp, 6-6, Newport Beach, Calif., Stanford, Southern California)
6 Serena Gray (MB, 6-3, Temple City, Calif., Pitt, Southern California)
7 Claire Hoffman (OH, 6-2, Pleasant Hill, Ore., Univ. of Washington, Columbia Empire)
8 Amber Igiede (MB, 6-3, Baton Rouge, La., Univ. of Hawaii, Delta)
9 Tia Jimerson (MB, 6-3, Sugar Hill, Ga., Ohio University, Southern)
12 Breland Morrissette (MB, 6-1, Birmingham, Ala., Georgia Tech, Southern)
13 Ella Powell (S, 6-0, Fayetteville, Ark., Univ. of Washington, Delta)
14 Sarah Sponcil (L, 5-10, Phoenix, Ariz., UCLA, Arizona)
15 Jaali Winters (OH, 6-3, Ankeny, Iowa, Creighton, Iowa)
17 Zoe Fleck (L, 5-6, Grenada Hills, Calif., Univ. of Texas, Southern California)
19 Jenna Gray (S, 6-1, Shawnee, Kan., Stanford Univ., Heart of America)
31C Roni Jones-Perry (OH, 6-0, West Jordan, Utah, BYU, Intermountain)
34 Stephanie Samedy (Opp, 6-2, Clermont, Fla., Univ. of Minnesota, Florida)

Head Coach: Brad Rostratter
Assistant Coach: Jonathan Charette
2nd Assistant Coach: Tayyiba Haneef-Park
Team Manager: James Lundgren
Physiotherapist: Cherryl-Marie Bueno
Statistician: Peter Wong

U.S. Women’s Schedule for the Pan American Cup
(All times PT)
Matches will be livestreamed on Federación Mexicana de Voleibol Facebook page.

Aug. 18: USA def. Chile, 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-18)
Aug. 19: USA def. Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-15)
Aug. 20: USA def. Cuba, 3-1 (21-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-10)
Aug. 21: USA def. Costa Rica, 3-0 (25-8, 25-12, 25-15)
Aug. 22: USA def. Argentina, 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 25-21)
Aug. 23: Quarterfinals (USA received a bye)
Aug. 24: Semifinals, USA def. Dominican Republic, 3-0 (25-18, 25-23, 28-26)
Aug. 25: Gold Medal match, 7 p.m. vs. Colombia/Argentina