Thompson: “I have greatness inside of me”

The United States women’s national team has been flawless in the Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament so far, completing the first two blocks of matches in Pool C, in Łódź, Poland, with four victories.

The reigning Olympic champions remain firmly in the race for one of the two spots at next year’s Paris Olympics in play this week and hope to continue on the same rhythm in the final portion of the tournament, from Friday to Sunday.

• Watch all the matches of the Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournament on VBTV.

On Wednesday, USA came from behind to top Korea 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-17) ahead of their off day on Thursday. The American top scorer in the match with 26 points (20 kills, three blocks, three aces), opposite Jordan Thompson is pleased with the continued progress displayed by the team in Poland.

“It’s been a good start to the tournament so far, we’re just continuing to find our rhythm as a team,” she told Volleyball World. “We were building up for this tournament the entire summer and I’m really excited to be here. We just want to hopefully continue to build on what we’ve created so far.”

Following wins over Colombia, Thailand, Slovenia and Korea, the Americans will likely be more challenged in their final three matches in Łódź as they face Italy, Poland and Germany, three national teams that also remain in contention for the Olympic spots, from Friday to Sunday.

According to Thompson, instead of major adjustments or tweaks, the Olympic champions only need to continue steady in their path in order to end the week with their tickets booked to Paris.

“There’s a lot of fine-tuning that we could do,” she reflected. “It’s not necessarily one thing, but continuing to find that rhythm. That goes from our serving, our blocking-defense, our offense…It’s just about becoming more in sync with each other and I think that will come.”

In decisive matches, the mental side of the game plays a big factor and is often the difference between winners and losers. Known for the inspiring quotes she routinely shares on social media, the 26-year-old opposite revealed she sticks to one of them in critical moments of her career.

“We knew we were going to face a lot of challenges in a tournament like this,” she added. “Everybody is fighting for that bid to the Olympics and everybody is going to be throwing everything that they have at this tournament. One thing that I always repeat to myself during our national anthem is that I have greatness inside me. It’s sort of just this mantra for myself and on those moments when I do get nervous and when it feels big, I just lean on that. I have greatness inside of me, I have a lot of training and I have my teammates. That’s something that I carry with me.”

Volleyball Olympic Qualifying Tournaments: schedule and results

One of the Americans’ main competitors for a spot in Paris, Italy also claimed their fourth-straight victory in the Olympic Qualifier on Wednesday with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-20) win over Colombia. Italian outside hitter Francesca Villani was the match’s leading scorer with 17 points.

Asian champions Thailand secured their first win in the tournament on Wednesday, upsetting hosts Poland, who entered the day undefeated, with a dramatic 3-2 (25-18, 7-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-12) victory. Outside hitter Ajcharaporn Kongyot led the Thai offense with 22 points, three less than Polish opposite Magdalena Stysiak, who was the main scorer with 25.

The last match of the day in Łódź had another tie-breaker, with Germany topping Slovenia 3-2 (17-25, 25-21, 19-25, 25-16, 15-12) to get to their fourth win in the tournament. Middle blocker Camilla Weitzel was Germany's top scorer with 21 points, two more than outside hitter Lina Alsmeier.

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