LONG BEACH, California, USA, June 19, 2016) – The USA concluded its weekend of hosting the FIVB World Grand Prix Pool E with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-16) victory over visiting Turkey on Sunday evening.
Nicole Fawcett sparked the USA with 15 points, while Rachael Adams added 15 points with five blocks. Kelsey Robinson notched 14 points.
Turkey’s Polen Uslupehlivan totaled 12 points and Hande Baladin chipped in 12 points.
The USA had a 12-6 block advantage and a 4-1 ace margin over Turkey.
The USA is now 5-1 overall with 15 points in the standings through the first two weekends. The Americans also moved into third place in the 12-team Group 1 standings. Turkey had its recorded fall to 3-3 overall before heading into the third and final preliminary round weekend at home in Ankara.
After trailing 7-5, Turkey recovered with a 5-2 scoring run to take a 10-9 advantage capped by a Uslupehlivan kill. However, Adams hit a slide for a kill followed by a Fawcett slam from the back-row and Adams ace for a 12-10 American lead. Dietzen hit a slide for a point and followed with a block to extend the American lead to 14-11. Glass served an ace out of a Turkey timeout, then Dietzen put up a block for a 16-11 USA lead at the second technical timeout. Robinson hammered a kill off the block and Adams put down a quick set to give USA a 21-16 lead after Turkey was fighting to get back in the set. Adams and Larson connected for consecutive kills to raise the American lead to 23-18. Turkey’s Kalac served an ace to close the gap to 23-20, but Dietzen awarded USA set points at 24-20 with a kill. Dietzen ended the set at 25-21 with a kill. Adams and Larson each scored five points in the set.
Turkey took a 3-1 early lead in the second set, taking advantage of two USA errors. The Americans answered with three straight for a 4-3 USA lead highlighted by a Robinson kill in transition. Baladin hit a cross-court winner to put Turkey in front 8-7 at the first technical timeout. Team USA took an 11-9 lead on two Fawcett kills and a triple block. Fawcett and Larson scored consecutive kills and Robinson had back-to-back kills followed by a Robinson block to put the Americans up 16-10 at the second technical timeout. Turkey scored four straight to close to 23-19 after trailing by eight points. Lowe ended the run with a kill, then USA finished the set at 25-20 on a Fawcett slam.
The USA went up 6-3 as Larson and Robinson were scoring early in the third set. Fawcett served an ace and Robinson hit an attack off the block to extend the American lead to 10-5. The U.S. stretched the lead to 13-6 after an unsuccessful Turkey video challenge. Adams served an ace to inch the American lead to 15-8. Adams scored back-to-back blocks to put USA up 22-11. The USA won 25-16.