In front of 12,600 thrilled fans in Milan’s Mediolanum Forum, World No. 2 United States and World No. 5 China have advanced to Sunday’s gold medal match at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship Italy 2014
Milan, Italy, October 11, 2014 – World No. 2 United States and World No. 5 China have advanced to Sunday’s gold medal match at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship Italy 2014. The United States have scored an astonishing 3-0 semifinal win over World No. 1 Brazil while China – in front of 12,600 thrilled fans in Milan’s Mediolanum Forum – proved too strong for host Italy (3-1).
The Mediolanum Forum will again be sold out for Sunday’s highly anticipated FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Italy 2014 gold medal match that feature No. 2 United States against No. 5 China at 20.00 (local time). World No. 1 Brazil will take on World No. 4 Italy at 17.30 (local time) in the battle for the bronze.
World No. 2 United States have scored an amazing 3-0 (25-18, 29-27, 25-20) semifinal win over World No. 1 Brazil on Saturday evening. USA outplayed Brazil in attacking and serving, to make up for Brazil's superior blocking. However, the reigning Olympic champions contributed to the final score with as many as 19 unforced errors (to USA's 12). It was Brazil's first defeat in 12 matches at these World Championships. USA are 10-2.
USA have never won the World Championship gold medal, finishing second in 1967 and 2002. This is the first time they have reached the gold medal match since going away from the round-robin format. USA have never won a major tournament title that includes the World Championships, World Cup and Olympic Games.
Saturday’s triumph was USA's revenge for the 3-1 loss in the final of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
In Saturday’s second semifinal, World No. 5 China kept the upper hand over host Italy 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 30-28) to advance for the fifth time in their history to the gold medal match of World Championship. China will attempt to win their third World Championship title with gold in 1982 and 1986.
China already met Italy in the 2002 semifinals, but lost 3-1 as Italy went on to win the title. China are now 5-1 in semifinal matches. They won the first four semifinals in straight sets before losing to Italy in 2002.
Italy have now lost two of their three semifinal matches (win in 2002 and lost in 2006).
The medal round matches of the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship will take place on Sunday, October 12 in Milan’s Mediolanum Forum.
Medal matches on October 12
For bronze: Brazil (11-1) versus Italy (10-2), 17:30
For gold: USA (10-2) versus China (10-2), 20:00
Semifinal results
TOP PERFORMANCES
Top scorer by day
Polina Rahimova- 33 of Azerbaijan v Japan on 23-9-14
Brankica Mihajlovic- 31 of Serbia v Bulgaria on 24-9-14
Polina Rahimova- 32 of Azerbaijan v Puerto Rico on 25-9-14
Lise Van Hecke- 23 of Belgium v Azerbaijan on 27-9-14
Tatiana Kosheleva-31 of Russia v USA on 28-9-14
Bethania De La Cruz De Peña-30 of Dominican Republic v Belgium and
Lise Van Hecke-30 of Belgium v Dominican Republic on 1-10-14
Tatiana Kosheleva-32 of Russia v Turkey on 2-10-14
Bethania De La Cruz De Peña-37 of Dominican Republic v China on 4-10-14
Bethania De La Cruz De Peña-25 of Dominican Republic v Japan and
Vasileva Elitsa-25 of Bulgaria v Netherlands on 5-10-14
Antonella Del Core-15 of Italy v USA and
Thaisa-15 of Brazil v China and
Jaqueline-15 of Brazil v China and
Fe Garay-15 of Brazil v China on 8-10-14
Bethania De La Cruz De Peña-39 of Dominican Republic v China on 9-10-14
Tatiana Kosheleva-15 of Russia v Italy on 10-10-14
Ting Zhu-32 of China v Italy on 11-10-14
Top scoring performances
39- Bethania De La Cruz De Peña of Dominican Republic v China on 9-10-14
37- Bethania De La Cruz De Peña of Dominican Republic v China on 4-10-14
36- Polina Rahimova of Azerbaijan v Croatia on 4-10-14
33- Polina Rahimova of Azerbaijan v Japan on 23-9-14
32- Polina Rahimova of Azerbaijan v Puerto Rico on 25-9-14
32- Tatiana Kosheleva of Russia v Turkey on 2-10-14
32- Ting Zhu of China v Italy on 11-10-14
Top blocking performances
10- Kubra Akman of Turkey v Bulgaria on 25-9-14
9- Zhu Ting of China v Japan on 28-9-14
Top serving performances
6- Regla Gracia Gonzalez of Cuba v Azerbaijan on 29-9-14
5- Mizuho Ishida of Japan v Azerbaijan on 23-9-14
5- Margareta Kozuch of Germany v Croatia on 28-9-14
5- Valentina Diouf of Italy v China on 11-10-14
Top team blocking performances
24- Brazil v Turkey on 27-9-14
19- China v Japan on 28-9-14
Top team serving performances
13- Azerbaijan v Croatia on 4-10-14
13- Croatia v Tunisia on 27-9-14
12- Germany v Croatia on 28-9-14
Highest scoring sets
36-34 Thailand v Mexico (2nd set) on 25-9-14
34-32 USA v Russia (1st set) on 28-9-14
32-30 Netherlands v Mexico (1st set) on 28-9-14
Highest scoring matches
220- USA v Russia 3-1 (34-32, 25-19, 29-31, 26-24) on 28-9-14
218- Azerbaijan v Puerto Rico 3-2 (25-20, 24-26, 26-24, 16-25, 17-15) on 25-9-14
218- Croatia v Dominican Republic 2-3 (22-25, 13-25, 25-22, 26-24, 17-19) on 25-9-14
218- Turkey v Russia 3-2 (19-25, 25-27, 25-22, 25-22, 15-13) on 2-10-14
218- China v Dominican Republic 3-2 (22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 15-12) on 9-10-14