August 23, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas- Former Texas A&M All-American Stacy Sykora and the U.S. Women's Volleyball Olympic Team captured a silver medal at the Olympics in Beijing as USA fell to top-ranked Brazil, 25-15, 18-25, 25-13, 25-21, in the gold-medal match.
Sykora, a defensive specialist and three-time Olympian, saw action in both the second and fourth sets and sparked the team with several stunning saves. Brazil had not lost a set at the entire 2008 Olympics until the Americans took the second set.
It is the first medal for Sykora (Burleson, Texas), who served as USA's libero in 2000 and 2004. In addition, it is only the third Olympic medal for USA women's volleyball and their first since winning a bronze medal in 1992. The silver medal ties the 1984 team for USA's highest finish. Aggie head coach Laurie Corbelli was a member of the '84 team, and Sykora wears the No. 5 jersey in honor of her former coach.
USA, ranked fourth in the world, exceeded expectations, defeating second-ranked Italy in the quarterfinals and third-ranked Cuba in the semifinals to reach the gold-medal match.
For USA Volleyball's complete match story, visit http://volleyball.teamusa.org/news/article/6450.
For post-match quotes, visit http://volleyball.teamusa.org/news/article/6448.
In addition, Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and a Texas A&M graduate is covering the Olympics and was at the volleyball gold medal match. She talked to Sykora and phoned Corbelli following the match. The link to the article is:
http://www.star-telegram.com/olympics/story/855465.html