China survives Drews, USA comeback for five-set Olympics volleyball victory

PARIS — A second Olympics volleyball reverse sweep of the day?

The USA came so, so close. 

But just as the match did a 180 after two sets, it happened again in the fifth set.

And now the American women are looking at a possible must-win match Wednesday against Serbia.

The bottom line is that China won 25-20, 25-19, 17-25, 20-25, 15-13, and despite the tremendous comeback, the spark from first-time Olympians Avery Skinner and Kathryn Plummer, another great Olympics performance by Annie Drews, the USA is 0-1 in a four-team pool. 

“I thought that we fought hard in sets one and two, but obviously on paper it was a slow start,” said Drews, who had a match-high 26 kills, hitting .352, three blocks and eight digs. “I thought we made some great adjustments and our game-changers came in and did exactly that.”

Take note that this team refers to its reserves as game-changers, which isn’t lost on Skinner, who has taken on a super-sub role. She had 15 kills, hit .400, and two aces, and made some spectacular digs, finishing with six.

“For me, it’s coming in and making a difference when I can,” Skinner said.

Veterans Jordan Larson (four kills) and Kelsey Robinson Cook (three kills) started at outside hitter, but by the third set it was all Skinner and Plummer. Plummer had nine kills, an ace and two digs.

Chiaka Ogbogu had nine kills and four blocks and the other middle, Haleigh Washington, had five kills, three blocks and three aces. 

“I’m really proud of our fight. It’s not easy to be down 0-2 and be neck and neck in the fifth like that,” said setter Jordyn Poulter, who had a kill, a block and six digs. 

Libero Justine Wong-Orantes had 17 digs.

“It was a hard-fought match. It was definitely heartbreaking,” Wong-Orantes said. “But it was really encouraging honestly. Going five with a team like China is incredible and squeezing out any point we can get in this pool is going to be important for us.”

In these Games there are three pools of four teams each, different than the previous Olympics that had two pools of six with eight emerging. These eight will come from the top two teams in each pool plus the next best two, so, yes, every point counts.

“It’s a format that is really quick and intense,” said USA coach Karch Kiraly, whose team won gold three years ago in Tokyo. “It’s been a few Olympics since we had to come out and play a very, very good opponent right out of the gate. In Tokyo we played Argentina, in Rio (in 2016) we played Puerto Rico, so we could kind of ease into it. We did not have that luxury here, but in another sense we’ve been waiting awhile so it was nice to get after it and both teams tested each other.”

The Americans had a 74-68 kills advantage, China led in blocks 12-11, and the USA had six aces and China just one. Each team scored 102 points.

“It just highlights how thin the margins are and how we have to take care of some of these little plays,” Kiraly said. 

China’s Li Yingying, the spectacular left outside, had 24 kills and two blocks. Zhu Ting had 17 kills, Xiangyu Gong had 12 kills and a block, Xinyue Yuan had seven kills, four blocks and an ace, and Yuanyuan Wang had four kills and three blocks.

In the fifth set, the Americans led 6-4 and broke a 7-7 tie with an ace by Washington. The teams switched sides and then China coach Bin Cai surprisingly called time, his second of the set. 

His team responded in a big way. Or Yingying did, with three kills in a row that made it 11-8.

Wang hit a slide to make it 12-9 and then put her team up 13-9 with a block of Ogbogu. Drews got a kill and the USA pulled to 13-11 on a setting error by Linyu Diao. But Yingying got another kill to make it 14-11.

Drews and Washington had kills to make it 14-13, but Ting ended it with a kill off of Drews, her only point of the fifth set.

All of which adds up to a tough situation heading into Wednesday against Serbia.

Drews, the high-flying left-hander was the overall bright spot. 

“Annie was phenomenal,” Kiraly said.

She had five of her kills and a block in the fifth set. 

“She’s our slugger,” Poulter said. “She came out and was balls to the wall and went for it. It was very inspiring to watch as a teammate.”

You’ll recall that in Tokyo, when the USA won gold in 2021, Jordan Thompson started at opposite but got hurt in the fourth match. Drews replaced her and was fantastic.

“The biggest thing I’m recognizing is my teammates want me out there for a reason,” Drews said. “It’s my arm, sure, but there’s a presence that I can bring if I’m not getting in my own way.”

In the last match of the day, also in Pool A, Serbia swept France, a team that most likely will also lose to the USA and China.

“I think there’s a lot of good we can carry into Wednesday,” Drews said. 

“I like where we’re at,” Poulter said. “We might not have gotten the W, but we went five and every point matters in this format and so we won’t dwell on this at all and we’ll take the good from it, learn what can be improved and we’ll be ready for Serbia in two days.”

Kiraly hopes they are right.

“Some really good things to take away,” Kiraly said, “in the midst of a disappointing loss that was ripe for the taking.”

Türkiye survives Dutch scare

In the end, Türkiye came away with a 19-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-13 reverse-sweep victory over the Netherlands.

Türkiye was not only down two sets to none, trailed 21-18 before it broke a 22-22 tie to win the third, trailed 21-18 in the fourth and was down 6-3 in the fifth and trailed as late as 11-10.

The incredible Melissa Vargas led with 29 kills and had a block.

“It was our first match at the Olympics and we don’t play in the morning very often and I think those were the reasons for our slow start,” Varga said. “We were still adjusting.

“Once we got our focus back, we were able to play at the level we’re used to. We were trying to stay calm and confident that we would get away from that difficult situation and I’m happy we did and got to start the Olympics with a win. Playing volleyball is always beautiful and I’m excited to do it here at the Olympics.”

Türkiye, which beat the Netherlands for the ninth time in a row, got 12 kills from Hande Baladin, who had a block and an ace. Eda Erdem had nine kills, two blocks and an ace and Ebrar Karakut had nine kills and a block. 

Celeste Plak, who had eight kills and three blocks for the Netherlands, was none too happy.

“It’s shit. We started fiercely with fire in our eyes, but I am very proud of the team and how we fought because we believed in it, and ourselves,” Plak said.

She’s not giving up, of course.

“The Olympic Games are a magical tournament and crazy things can happen. You have to believe and keep going.”

Jolien Knollema led the Dutch with 12 kills, two blocks and an ace. Nika Daalderop had 14 kills and an ace, Juliet Lohuis had seven kills, five blocks and an ace, and Indy Baijens had nine kills and three blocks.

Brazil thumps Kenya

Brazil overpowered Kenya 25-14, 25-13, 25-12, holding a 16-3 blocks advantage.

Kenya’s Agripa Khayesi Kundu had a realistic look at the match.

“We worked hard to be here, and we felt good playing in Paris at the Olympics, but it isn’t easy for Kenya to take on a team like Brazil,” she said.

Rosamaria Montebiller led Brazil with 10 kills, two blocks and an ace. Carol da Silva had eight kills and five blocks and Thaisa had seven kills and four blocks. Julia Bergmann, the former ACC player of the year for Georgia Tech, had one kill, which ended the match.

Later Monday, Serbia swept France.

Tuesday’s Olympics volleyball schedule

There are four men’s matches, including the USA against Germany at 1 p.m. local (6 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern). The Americans are coming off their sweep of Argentina, while the Germans opened with a five-set upset of Japan. The USA-Gerrmany winner will be all but guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals. Theirs is the only Pool C match of the day.

Things get going in Pool B when Italy will be a heavy favorite over Egypt, and then Slovenia plays Serbia and France plays Canada in Pool A.

Click here for the complete, day-by-day Olympics indoors and beach volleyball schedule.

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