USA back on track after dramatic victory over Serbia

The United States came out on top of arguably the most-anticipated match of the pool phase of the women’s volleyball tournament of the Paris 2024 Games as the defending Olympic champions topped reigning world champions Serbia in the tie-breaker on Wednesday at the South Paris Arena 1 to celebrate their first victory in the event.

The Pool A encounter had the Americans starting better, but saw the Serbians come back and level the score, forcing a fifth set. In the end, a couple of plays sent the match the USA's way as they took the Europeans down 3-2 (25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 17-15) to recover from an opening-match loss to China and please their thousands of fans on the stands.

Despite the loss, the Serbians continue in first place in the pool with four points, one more than the Americans. China, who have two points, and France, who are yet to score one, will meet on Thursday, at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT), at the conclusion of the second round of matches. The top two teams in each pool and the two best third-placed sides advance to the quarterfinals.

"This victory gives us some crucial points and makes it a little bit easier for us to advance to the quarterfinals, but we're not thinking that far ahead," middle blocker Haleigh Washington reacted. "It also just shows the grit of this team. We got pushed a lot by Serbia in the third and fourth sets, and to fight through that and come out with energy in the fifth just 48 hours after having played five sets against China, it shows the grit that this group has."

The Americans relied on multiple sources to get the points they needed to beat the Serbians as while opposite Annie Drews was the team's most productive player with 16 (15 kills, one block), five other players got to double digits in scoring - outside hitters Avery Skinner (14) and Kathryn Plummer (11), middle blockers Chiaka Ogbogu (14) and Washington (ten) and opposite Jordan Thompson (11).

"Our bench is so deep and when one person can't do it, another person can fill that gap and I think it showed again tonight," added libero Justine Wong-Orantes. "It's going to take everyone on our roster to get it done and I'm really happy that the players who came in made a change and helped us get the win. Chiaka did an amazing job, she was commanding the net and having someone like that leading us was really huge."

Ogbogu indeed made a difference for the Americans as her eight stops helped her team win the blocking battle by 19 to 14. The USA also got more points from opponents' errors (23 to 19), while the Serbians were better offensively (63 kills to 56) and from the service line (six aces to three).

Star opposite Tijana Bošković crossed the 30-point barrier for the first time in Paris with a 31-point performance (27 kills, two kills, two aces). Aleksandra Uzelac added another 14, while fellow outside hitter Katarina Lazović came off the bench to produce 12.

"It's really difficult for us to lose this match in the tie-breaker," Uzelac commented. "I thought we did a very good job coming back to win the third and fourth sets after being down 2-0, but for some reason, we lost our energy for a moment and that was all the Americans needed to win. In a tie-breaker, it's always the small things and the little details. We need to win the next match if we want to make it to the quarterfinals and we'll do our best."

The Americans will complete their pool play schedule on Sunday, at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT), against hosts France. On the same day, at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT), the Serbians will battle China.

Poland sweep Kenya and get second win

The second women's match of the day on Wednesday had Poland getting their win in Paris. The Europeans gave no chance to African champions Kenya and prevailed 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-15), securing their second victory in Pool B and a spot in the quarterfinals.

Poland are now first in the pool with six points, ahead of Brazil, who have three, and Japan and Kenya, with zero. South Americans and Asians will play on Thursday.

Outside hitter Natalia Medrzyk led the way for the Polish with 13 points (11 kills, two blocks), followed by opposite Magdalena Stysiak, who registered nine. Kenya had the match's top scorer in opposite Pamella Owino, who left the court with 14 points (13 kills, one block) and another prolific scorer in outside hitter Veronica Adhiambo, who added 13.

The Polish will play Brazil in their last pool play match on Sunday, at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT). Kenya will be back on the court on Saturday, at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT), to face Japan.

Paris 2024 – Match Schedule and Results

On Thursday, all three women's pools will complete their second round of matches, with Türkiye and the Dominican Republic meeting at 9:00 local time (7:00 GMT) in Pool C, Brazil and Japan battling at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT) in Pool B, European rivals Italy and the Netherlands dueling at 17:00 local time in Pool C and France and China completing the schedule at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) in Pool A.

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