Volleyball regains momentum with win against Belarus

by Rachel Benedict on September 10, 2009

Although Thursday’s match against Belarus brought the U.S. Women’s Volleyball Team a win after two straight losses, it was not a solid one. “It was an ugly win,” coach Lynn Ray Boren said. The first set started off slow for both the U.S. and Belarus. Once Valerie Trofimenkoff caught on fire, she led a 5-0 run that gave the Americans the lead. Hitters Kristina Bruke and Tamara Foronda were able to find holes in Belarus’ defense. Katelyn Reese found hits she liked and brought the Americans together to build their lead as many as six points. “We finally united as a team, especially the middle hitters with the setter. Our timing was much better today,” Reese said. Near end of the first set, Boren brought in substitutions, including setter Paige Johnson for Pia Marie Paulone, Amanda Krieger for Foronda, Jenny Cooper for Trofimenkoff, and Justine Jeter for Ludmila Mounty-Weinstock so the substitutions could get some play time, but he had to put some starters back in the set to win it, 25-22. Belarus led at the start of the second set until Jeter started to serve, and the U.S. went on a 4-0 run, nabbing the lead. Not long after the run, Reese had a thunderous kill that prompted Boren to jump up and yell, “I have been waiting for that all along!” However, it wasn’t enough for the Americans as Belarus kept on finding ways to tie and regain the lead. Belarusian Alesia Akulich, who towered over six feet tall, dominated the front row, frustrating the Americans. Akulich was the top blocker at the 2008 Deaf World Volleyball Championships in Argentina. “It was a challenge playing against her, and she frustrated me at times,” Trofimenkoff said. Once Krieger checked in to serve, the Americans’ tempo increased, especially with two strong kills from Jeter and Reese to regain the lead. Reese continued to be on fire as she bagged more kills and blocks to keep the Americans’ momentum going despite a second timeout by Belarus. A Trofimenkoff kill finished the set, 25-23. This time, as opposed to Wednesday’s match against Japan, the Americans finished strong. “We regrouped after yesterday’s loss to Japan and played better, but still need to work on our own mistakes,” Lehmann said. Even though Belarus made several runs for the lead in the third set, the U.S. didn’t give it up until Belarus went up, 16-15, which the U.S. tied with a Burke kill that reignited the Americans’ momentum. Lehmann led the rallies for the Americans, feeding the ball to Paulone, who was able to direct them to Burke and Trofimenkoff to execute. Belarus called a do-or-die timeout while down, 20-18, in hopes of turning around the set — and the match. They succeeded in creating four-point run for a two-point lead, forcing a U.S. timeout. The last few points of the set were nail-biting, with rallies that went back and forth. Jeter, Foronda, and Burke had kills alongside blocks by Trofimenkoff and Reese. Digs and saves by Lehmann, Foronda and Paulone kept the U.S. in the game. The Americans finally converted a free ball for a kill by Burke to win the third set, 26-24. “It was really nice seeing that we were able to come back from behind to win the third set,” Boren said. However, there’s still room for improvement, Foronda suggested. “Though it was a good game, we played sloppy in cases like giving Belarus free balls and opportunities,” Foronda said. The Americans play Argentina on Friday for the final round-robin game before four-team bracket play begins Saturday.

Volleyball regains momentum with win against Belarus

Latest News

Donate