After surviving at thrilling five-set match in the USA Volleyball Cup opener this week at The Walter Pyramid, the Americans swept the Netherlands 25-21, 25-20, 25-13 to take the USA Volleyball Cup.
“It wasn’t a perfect game which I think is good,” said USA middle blocker Haleigh Washington. “We don’t want to be playing perfect just yet. You don’t want to peak too early. I think we identified some things that we want to get better at, but I also think it progressively got better during the match.”
The teams stayed on the court for an exhibition fourth set and the Americans took it 25-23 before the players walked around the arena to thank the fans and see their families.
“I remember growing up I always wanted to get signature from the national team,” said USA outside hitter Kathryn Plummer. “It was always great to meet, that was always fun. I always want to do that for younger kids who were here, because that’s what it’s all about.”
The final match of the three-game warmup for the Paris Olympics will be Sunday at 4pm in the Walter Pyramid. The 1984 U.S. Olympic Men’s Team will be honored at the match.
“I just think we’re trying to find connections on our attack and serve receive patterns, and I think it went pretty well for the most part,” said Plummer.
Plummer played all four sets and finished with a match-high 20 kills and four blocks. She also had a .594 hitting percentage. Washington had a match-high six blocks, eight kills and two aces. USA outside hitter Kelsey Robinson Cook finished with 11 kills and one block in three sets.
“I think we were really trying to focus on improving our serves,” Washington said. “It was a little dicey there in the first set. I think we want to get into a little bit more space. So, we were driving it aggressively. There are some serving targets on the other side that we want to try and that will come in handy in Paris.”
USA libero Justine Wong-Orantes, who has a connection with Long Beach through the Mizuno club, had 21 receptions and posted an 81 percent reception rate.
Following the Sunday match, both USA men’s and women’s teams will be traveling to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
