Undefeated U.S. Women Secure Spot in VNL Semis by Beating Turkey

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 14, 2021) – The U.S. Women’s National Team remained undefeated and secured a spot in the semifinals of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League with a 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-15, 25-14) win over Turkey on Monday in Rimini, Italy.

The U.S. Women (12-0) will get three days off before playing a final round of matches starting on June 18 against Poland (4-8), Russia (8-4) and China (7-5). The semifinals will be held on June 24 and the final on June 25. The U.S. Women are the two-time defending VNL champions.

All matches are being show on VolleyballWorld.tv.

Going into the match, the U.S. Women were in first place with Turkey in second at 9-2. The first two sets were tight, but the U.S. Women pulled away early in the third and fourth.

OFFICIAL STATISTICS * TEAM STATISTICS

“Obviously, Turkey is a great team and well coaches. We knew it was going to be a battle,” U.S. outside hitter and Team Captain Jordan Larson said. “Jordan Poulter did a really nice job of running a great offense. I think we started settling down passing. They were serving pretty tough. For us, it’s just running fast to the pin and setting our middles as well.”

Opposite Jordan Thompson led all scorers with 19 points on a team-high 14 kills and a match-high five blocks. Outside hitter Michelle Bartsch-Hackley added 14 points on 12 kills, one block and one ace. Larson totaled 13 points on 13 kills (.482).

The U.S. led Turkey in kills (61-44) and blocks (10-6) while Turkey led in aces (5-4). The U.S. scored 23 points on Turkey’s errors while committing 20.

Poulter scored two points on a block and ace. She and setter Micha Hancock, who was used in a double substitution for Thompson and opposite Annie Drews, who subbed for Poulter, combined to set the team to a .447 hitting efficiency. Libero Justine Wong Orantes was credited with 13 digs and nine successful receptions.

Among other scorers, Larson finished with 13 points on 13 kills (.482). Middle blocker Haleigh Washington scored 12 points on eight kills (.800), two blocks and two aces. Middle Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson totaled 10 points on nine kills and two blocks. Opposite Annie Drews scored five points on five kills (.444).

Outside hitter Kim Hill played as a serving substitute and had a seven-point scoring run in the fourth set.

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

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

1 Micha Hancock (S, 5-11, Edmond, Okla., Penn State Univ.)
2 Jordyn Poulter (S, 6-2, Aurora, Colo., Univ. of Illinois)
4 Justine Wong-Orantes (L, 5-6, Cypress, Calif., Univ. of Nebraska)
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)
24 Chiaka Ogbogu (M, 6-2, Coppell, Texas, Univ. of Texas)

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

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: USA def Thailand, 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-16)

June 6: USA def Germany, 3-0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-13)
June 7: USA def South Korea, 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-15)
June 8: USA def Italy, 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 25-16)

June 12: USA def Belgium, 3-0 (25-9, 26-24, 25-20)
June 13: USA def Japan, 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-20)
June 14: USA def Turkey, 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-15, 25-14)

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