USA women upset by Poland in five sets at World Cup

by Paul Soriano USA Volleyball Manager, Public Relations & Publications

Malgorzata Glinka scored a match-high 27 points and Kamila Fratczak added 21 as Poland shocked the USA women's national volleyball team, 3-2, at the World Cup to open third-round action at Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center in Sapporo, Japan, Saturday afternoon (Friday night in the United States).

Glinka had 22 kills, four blocks and one service ace in the 25-21, 31-29, 22-25, 21-25, 15-12 victory for Poland, which handed the United States (5-1) its first loss at the first Olympic qualifier of the quadrennial.

The top three teams at the 12-team, two-week, round-robin tournament earn automatic bids to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

"We didn't have as good a start as we usually have had at this tournament," said Team USA head coach Toshi Yoshida. "We knew that Poland was a good team, and that it would be a tough match. The good news from the game is that we won two sets, but the bad news is that we lost the game. We had real problems with receiving."

Fratczak had 14 kills, a match-high six blocks and one service ace as Poland, the European champions, snapped a four-match losing streak at the tournament to post only its second win in six matches.

Malgorzata Niemczyk-Wolska added 18 points and Katarzyna Skowronska chipped in with 15 in Poland's win over the world's No. 1-ranked team.

Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) scored 23 points on 22 kills and one ace to lead five players in double figures for Team USA, which saw its season record drop to 26-13 overall.

Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah) posted 18 points on 17 kills and one block, Danielle Scott (Baton Rouge, La.) had 17 points on 12 kills and five blocks and Keba Phipps (Las Vegas, Nev.) added 15 points on 12 kills, two blocks and one ace.

Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.) chipped in with 11 points on nine kills and two blocks as the Americans were outblocked for the first time in the tournament, 15-11.

"We had a slow start today," said USA libero Stacy Sykora (Burleson, Texas). "Poland is a very good blocking team. We couldn't block or defend as we usually can. But the main reason for the loss was too many unforced errors. Today, USA Volleyball beat USA Volleyball."

In other early action on Saturday, Cuba defeated Argentina, 3-0, Italy swept the Dominican Republic and Brazil routed Egypt, 3-0.

The USA women will now play Turkey on Sunday, Nov. 9 and the Dominican Republic on Monday, Nov. 10 to conclude the third round.

In the fourth and final round (Nov. 13-15), Team USA squares off against China, Brazil and four-time defending World Cup champion Cuba (1989, 1991, 1995 and 1999) in Osaka.

For more information, go to the USA Volleyball web site.