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USA Women’s National Volleyball Team Captures Gold Medal

MACAU, CHINA – The USA Women’s National Volleyball Team captured the
goldmedal at the 2001 FIVB World Grand Prix for the first time since 1995
Sunday afternoon. Team USA cruised to a stunning four set victory over
home-standing China (26-28, 25-20, 25-21, 25-11) in front of over 5,500 fans
to put the Americans on top of the volleyball world.

USA veteran middle blocker Danielle Scott (Baton Rouge, La./Long Beach
State) was named tournament MVP and best blocker after scoring 22 points (17
kills, five blocks) in the US victory.

“Wow!” said Scott following the win. “That was a great win for the USA over
China in China. Even though the gym was filled to capacity, one could hear
a pin drop as USA rallied together play after play. It was a huge team win
and I feel excited and blessed to have been a part of it.”

USA head coach Toshiaki Yoshida celebrated his first major international
championship as head coach of team. Yoshida took over the position
following the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games when then head coach Mick Haley
departed for the University of Southern California. Yoshida served as an
assistant under Haley at the Games. The significance of the championship
was not lost on Yoshida, but he knows his team must get back work.

“We played with a lot of energy, soul, and spirit tonight,” said
Yoshida. “Our blocking was good and we played exceptional defense. We had
the right players and the appropriate training for this tournament. However,
this is just the start of the quadrennial and we need to maintain this
level. We still have a lot of room to improve. I know things are going to
get more difficult and all of the teams are going to improve. We have many
issues to solve such as players going overseas and athlete support, but this
was a great win for this team. We have to learn from this win. We need to
keep these veterans and continue to train like we have been doing.”

USA libero Stacy Sykora (Burleson, Texas/Texas A&M) was named the
tournament’s best libero. She says it was a great feeling to climb on
the medal stand.

“It is the greatest feeling to finally be on the winner's stand,” said
Sykora. This team has been through so much together. It is nice to
finally see how much all the hard work can pay off. We won tonight
because we played as a team. It was not the result of one or two
players. Everyone contributed.”

USA outside hitter Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah/Stanford Univ.) added 14
kills and two blocks in the victory, while middle blocker Heather Bown
(Yorba Linda, Calif./Univ. of Hawai’i) contributed 10 kills and three
blocks.

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U.S.A. beat China 3-1 (26-28, 25-20, 25-21, 25-11) - duration 1:39
26-Aug, start time: 15:30, end time: 17:09 - Attendance: 5,580

USA overpowered China with superior serving, blocking and spiking.
The first set both teams managed to level the scores twenty times, given
only one to two points difference throughout the entire set.
In the second set scores were also close, however China weaker attacks and
blocks consequently caused them to lose this set (25-20).
The high team spirit superb blocks and spikes led USA to win the third set
(25-21). USA maintained their overwhelming success till the end winning the
last set (25-11), claimed the 2001 WGP title.

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