The United States of America are the new world champions
Milan, Italy, October 12, 2014 – The United States of America are the new world champions! In front of 12,600 thrilled fans in Milan’s Mediolanum Forum, USA overpowered China 3-1 (27-25, 25-20, 16-25, 26-24) to claim their first FIVB World Championship title ever. It is a historic night for American volleyball, for this is their first ever title in a major FIVB competition. World No. 1 Brazil finished third, outlasting hosts Italy 3-2 (25-15, 25-13, 22-25, 22-25, 15-7) in an epic five-set thriller at FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship Italy 2014.
Despite their legacy of success over the past 30-plus years, the USA had never won the World Championship title - or any of the three major women's international titles including the Olympic Games and FIVB World Cup before.
Best scorers of Sunday’s gold medal match were Kimberly Hill for USA and Chunlei Zeng for China with 20 kills each. USA had the edge in blocking (14-9) and serving (6-5).
USA coach Karch Kiraly: "We came here to make history and we made it. It was a tough battle, but we made it."
USA captain Christa Dietzen: "It's the first time for the USA and we made it. We represented present and future volleyball programs, but most importantly we did it together."
United States have qualified for the final for the second time at the World Championships. In 2002, they lost 3-2 against Italy.
United States have won two silver and two bronze medals at the world championships and have become the third nation to complete the medal set following Russia/Soviet Union and Japan.
In the match for bronze, World No. 1 Brazil overcame the disappointment of Saturday's semifinal defeat to USA and outlasted hosts Italy 3-2 (25-15, 25-13, 22-25, 22-25, 15-7) in front of a 12,600-strong sellout crowd, to finish third in the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championships. It is Brazil’s fourth-best appearance ever, after the silver medals of 1994, 2006 and 2010. For Italy, it is the second-best finish ever after the gold medal of 2002.
Best scorer of the bronze medal match was Italy’s Valentina Diouf with 31 points. Sheilla contributed 21 kills for Brazil. Brazil had the edge in blocking (11-6), Italy in serving (7-5).
Brazil have finished in the top four for the fifth time in the last six editions, finishing the third time in a row on the podium. They only finished seventh in 2002. Italy have finished in the top four for the third time after 2002 (gold), 2006 (fourth) and today (fourth).
Brazil have surpassed Japan's 87 wins at the World Championship. Only Russia/Soviet Union have won more matches (120).
Medal Round Match Results
For bronze: Italy-Brazil / 2-3 /
VIEWFor gold: China-USA / 1-3 /
VIEW
FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship Italy 2014 Dream Team
Best Outside Spiker: Ting Zhu (China)
Second Best Outside Spiker: Kimberly Hill (USA)
Best Middle Blocker: Thaisa (Brazil)
Second Best Middle Blocker: Junjing Yang (China)
Best Libero: Monica DeGennaro (Italy)
Best Setter: Alisha Glass (USA)
Best Opposite: Sheilla (Brazil)
Most Valuable Player: Kimberly Hill (USA)
Final Ranking
1. USA
2. China
3. Brazil
4. Italy
5. Russia
-. Dominican Republic
7. Japan
-. Serbia
9. Germany
-. Turkey
11. Belgium
--. Bulgaria
13. Croatia
--. Netherlands
15. Azerbaijan
--. Kazakhstan
17. Argentina
--. Canada
--. Thailand
--. Puerto Rico
21. Tunisia
--. Cameroon
--. Mexico
--. Cuba
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
Valentina Diouf-31 of Italy v Brazil on 12-10-14
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