2018 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League – Week 3 / Pool 11
- May 29-31, 2018
- Indoor Stadium Huamark; Bangkok, Thailand
- Time Zone: UCT + 7 (ET + 11)
- World Rankings: #2 United States, #9 Dominican Republic, #13 Germany, #16 Thailand
- Preview
- Schedule/Results
United States def. Dominican Republic 3-0
- United States defeated 25-20, 25-23, 25-21
- United States moved to 7-1 (22 points); Dominican Republic moved to 2-6 (8 points)
Michelle Bartsch-Hackley and Kim Hill led the way for the United States, topping a group of four double-digit scorers in a sweep of the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.
Bartsch-Hackley scored 19 points, downing 14 kills and adding four aces and a block. Hill followed with a team-best 16 kills. Lauren Gibbemeyer and Kelly Murphy added 11 and 10 points respectively. Gibbemeyer notched nine kills, a block and an ace, while Murphy added 10 kills. Carli Lloyd tallied eight points, all on kills. Kelsey Robinson acted as the team’s libero in the match.
Brayelin Martinez led all scorers with 19 points for the DR, with 17 kills and two blocks. Yonkaira Pena Isabel also scored in double-digits with 13 kills (12 kills, 1 block). Niverka Frica and Jineiry Martinez served up two aces apiece, while Lisvel Mejia and J. Martinez turned in two blocks each.
The United States bested the Dominicans in kills (60-43) and aces (7-5), but were edged 8-3 in blocks and gave up 14 points on errors (to 10 by DR).
The Dominican Republic held the advantage late in Sets 2 and 3, but the Americans came through in the end to give Team USA its 13th straight win over their NORCECA neighbors since 2006.
Here are some post-match reactions.
Dominican Republic captain Niverka Marte: “USA are a great team. It was a very difficult match for us today, they’re a very good team. Our goal is to improve every day, and do better than the day before.”
USA captain Jordan Larson: “Congratulations to the Dominican Republic, they really pushed us today. I’m just really proud of our team for just grinding in this tournament. It was a tough game but every day we just try to get better and better. We’re excited to face Thailand tomorrow and in front of their home crowd. The Thai fans are awesome. It’s such an amazing environment to play in.”
USA coach Karch Kiraly: “Congratulations to the Dominican Republic, they played a great game last night against Thailand and they pushed us very hard today. They’re honestly improving; our two programmes know each other very well because we’re from the same zone. If you look at our lineups, we have been trying lots of different combinations; we tried another one today, and we will try a different one tomorrow.”
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