Gold stars
On Oct. 12, 2014, for the fi rst time in 62 years the U.S. Women’s National Team captured fi rst place at a triple-crown international tournament — the World Championship in Milan, Italy. As 2014 came to a close, we asked the participants to refl ect on what this milestone meant to them
celebration that fi ts the moment: a historic gold medal at the FIVB World Championship, the fi rst major title in the history of the U.S. Women’s National Team program. In apprecia- tion of that accomplishment, we’ve assembled a visual tour with commentary by the players and coach who made it hap- pen. Simply go to YouTube and check out match point.
W
hen U.S. outside hitter Kim Hill pounds a left-side set for the match-clinching kill, it sets off a wild USA
World Championship Video
“Honestly, what we accomplished still hasn’t fully hit me. We were the
“The No. 1 thing I’m taking away (from the gold-medal performance) is that there’s so much that we can still get better at. Lots of people are talking about USA and China in particular as teams that could get a lot better in the next two years.”
Karch Kiraly • U.S. Women’s National Team head coach
fi rst women’s team in USA Volleyball history to ever win a gold medal in a major international event. That speaks millions about how special this team and staff is. The headline of my Facebook page is our podium picture; we’re all standing tall, with our gold medals wrapped around our necks, hold- ing hands, beaming our huge smiles and standing on a blue platform that reads, ‘World Champions.’ Every time I see this, I smile and am reminded of our journey. Just months before, we were boarding our fl ight back to the USA because we failed to make World Grand Prix Finals week, and here we stand, champions. I constantly refl ect on this journey because it means so much to me to have gone through it with this group. This may be very cliché, but it really is all about the journey. People see the results and celebrations, but the things that we go through together, the adversity we face, the per- sonal highs, the lows and everything in between is our journey. I can’t wait to get back at it in 2015.”
Rachael Adams • Middle Blocker, Cincinnati, Ohio 42 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag
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