August 21, 2008
BEIJING- The U.S. Olympic Women's Indoor Volleyball Team, ranked fourth in the world by the FIVB, returns to an Olympic gold-medal match for the first time since 1984 after it defeated third-ranked Cuba 25-20, 25-16, 25-17 on Thursday afternoon in the Olympic Games semifinal round at Beijing's Capital Gymnasium.
Stacy Sykora, a three-time Olympian and two-time Texas A&M All-American, is a defensive specialist for USA.
The U.S., which has defeated the second- and third-ranked teams in back-to-back matches, plays for the gold medal at 8 p.m. (7 a.m. CDT) on Saturday versus top-ranked Brazil, which swept host China in the other semifinal match. Team USA is seeking to end the tournament with its first Olympic Games medal stand appearance since 1992 when it won the bronze medal. The U.S. gained a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games for its only other medal in women's indoor volleyball.
Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills, Calif.) sparked the U.S. with a team-leading 12 points, providing nine kills and three aces. Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah) added seven kills on 13 attacks, three blocks and an ace. Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.), playing in her fourth Olympic Games and now guaranteed her first medal, charted nine points via six kills on 10 attacks, two aces and a block.
For the complete article, visit http://volleyball.teamusa.org/news/article/6009.
For the U.S. Olympic Women's Indoor Volleyball Team event page that includes updated schedule, results, releases, blogs and photo galleries, visit http://volleyball.teamusa.org/event/event/514.