American roster depth paying off in Tokyo

Despite losing a key contributor to injury for a second-straight match, the United States women’s national team remain strong at the Tokyo Olympics. The Americans finished on top of Pool B with four wins in five matches to set up a quarterfinal matchup with continental rivals the Dominican Republic.

After seeing opposite Jordan Thompson go down in the team’s only defeat in Tokyo, a straight-set upset to ROC, the Americans also found themselves without starting setter Jordyn Poulter, who sprained her right ankle during the team’s 3-2 victory over Italy, limiting head coach Karch Kiraly’s options to just ten players.

“Our team handled it superbly,” he said after the match against Italy. “They really stayed together. I look back at the substitute box and it’s getting very lonely back there. There are only three of our players there (laughs). It’s getting to be a bit of an adventure.”

The three-time FIVB Volleyball Nations League champions might not have as many options as their rivals when it comes to healthy bodies, but the tremendous individual talent present in the American roster is proving to be enough to keep the team on track at the Ariake Arena.

Against the Italians, star opposite Annie Drews stepped up for the injured Thompson and delivered 22 points, which proved key in the team’s triumph.

“Not the circumstances you’d like to be playing in, but we talk a lot about being 12 strong, so when our team needs something from any of us, we’re going to do our best,” the 27-year-old opposite commented. “We’d love to have everyone healthy, but we are a strong 12 and we adjust accordingly.”

Roster strength has been one of the reasons why the Americans have been one of the most consistent teams in international volleyball over the last five years. Kiraly had so many options available for selection for the Olympics that he had to leave players of the caliber of setter Lauren Carlini, libero Megan Courtney and outside hitter Kathryn Plummer off the list.

With Poulter and Thompson uncertain for the next stages of the tournament, the Americans may enter the elimination round shorthanded when it comes to the numbers of players they have, but they are also certainly more solid than ever when it comes to their mental strength.

“We have 23 people in the gym who could have been on this roster and we knew it was going to take a lot of us to find a way to win,” team captain Jordan Larson reflected. “We’re finding that now. We can have anybody at any point step in to take over a match. We’ve been talking about it, and you’re seeing it come in to play now. We’re here to do something and do something big.”

Quick links:
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Volleyball
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Volleyball - Match schedule
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