U.S. NATIONAL TEAMS
POWER SWITCH: Foluke Akinradewo helped the U.S. Women’s National Team to a 3-0 win over eventual FIVB World Cup winner China. One step at a time
A less-than-desired fi nish at the FIVB World Cup has the No. 1 ranked U.S. Women’s National Team more motivated than ever to prove that it is indeed the world’s top team by Don Patterson
B
ronze is not OK. That was the col- lective sentiment of players on the U.S. Women’s National Team and their head coach after their third-place fi nish at the FIVB World Cup in September. This, of course, speaks to the high bar they have set for themselves after a historic gold medal
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at the 2014 FIVB World Championship and another gold at the FIVB World Grand Prix this summer.
“I think a lot of us were upset with how the tournament went,” said middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo, a starter on the 2012 Olympic silver-medal team. “We’ve set a
standard for ourselves, and anything less than gold is heartbreaking.”
Similar perspectives were voiced by outside hitter Jordan Larson-Burbach – “It defi nitely hurt,” she said – and middle blocker Christa Dietzen, who said: “From an outsider’s perspective, bronze isn’t too bad.
PHOTO: FIVB
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