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PRINT AND MEDIA COVERAGE USA Women Rout Cuba, Qualify for 2004 Olympic Games! OSAKA, Japan (Nov. 15, 2003) – Finishing in third place never felt so good. The USA women's national volleyball team booked a reservation to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, thanks to a dominating World Cup win over Cuba and a little help from Brazil.
Haneef (Laguna Hills, Calif.) had 12 kills and one service ace and Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah) added nine kills, three blocks and one ace in the 25-23, 25-18, 25-17 victory for the United States, which finished the first Olympic qualifier in third place with a record of 8-3. China and Brazil finished in first and second, respectively. "The (team) did great job," said Team USA head coach Toshi Yoshida. "I would like to say 'thank you' to my players for their excellent performance." The top three teams earn an early reservation to next year's Olympic Games, while the remainder of the World Cup field and those countries which did not play in the World Cup must attempt to qualify for Athens either at their zone qualifier or a world qualifier. The Americans headed into their final match needing a win against Cuba—the four-time defending World Cup champion—to at least have a chance to finish in the top three. But they also needed some help from Brazil. Following Team USA's convincing win, and based on the tiebreakers in place, Italy needed to sweep Brazil in the day's second match to secure the No. 3 spot in the standings behind China and Brazil. But the powerful Brazilians continued their dominance of the World Cup field, winning the first set, 25-20, and eventually the match, 3-1. Following a tournament-opening loss to China on Nov. 1, Brazil won its remaining 10 matches in a row to finish the tournament in second place. First place went to China, which capped a perfect World Cup with a 3-0 win over Japan in the night's final match. The Chinese finished the tournament with a record of 11-0, losing just four sets along the way. Two of those sets came against the United States, which held a 2-1 lead after three sets of its match against China before losing in five on Nov. 13. The next night, Team USA was routed by Brazil to set up Saturday's scenarios for Olympic qualification. But the Americans took care of business, and then watched as Brazil did the same. "I am happy with the win and our performance," said USA outside hitter Keba Phipps. "We were very disappointed after we were defeated by the Brazilian team last night, but (Toshi) believes in us and we were able to recover our confidence. We have done everything we could (to qualify)." Danielle Scott (Baton Rouge, La.) scored 12 points on 11 kills and one block while Phipps (Las Vegas, Nev.) added 11 points on 10 kills and one block for the United States, which posted its best-ever World Cup finish. Before the year, Team USA's best showing in the World Cup was a pair of fourth-place finishes: 1981 and 1991. At the last World Cup in 1999, the Americans finished in ninth place. In other action Saturday, Turkey swept Korea, the Dominican Republic defeated Argentina in four sets and Poland beat Egypt in three sets. Malgorzata Glinka of Poland was the top scorer of the tournament with 213 points and was named World Cup Most Valuable Player. 2003 USA Women's World Cup Team (Pictured Above): Front Row (L-R) Tara Cross-Battle, Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, Stacy Sykora, Lindsey Berg, Logan Tom, Head Coach Toshi Yoshida. Back Row (L-R) Assistant Coach Kevin Hambly, Wiz Bachman, Keba Phipps, Tayyiba Haneef, Danielle Scott, Heather Bown, Sarah Noriega, Nancy Metcalf. Photo Courtesy of FIVB 2003 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP (NOV. 1-15)
Final Standings
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Logan Tom and Tayyiba Haneef scored a match-high 13 points apiece to lead a balanced attack as Team USA swept Cuba in the final match of the World Cup at the Namihaya Dome Saturday afternoon (Friday night in the USA).
