USA women open Grand Prix Final Round with win

The USA Women's National Volleyball Team opened play in the final round of the 2001 FIVB World Grand Prix on Wednesday night in Macau, China, with a 27-25, 18-25, 25-16, 25-14 victory over Korea in Pool B.

The match was the first of three matches to be played by the USA in their pool. Team USA faces Cuba on Thursday and Brazil on Friday. The top two teams from Pool B advance to the semifinals on Saturday.

"We could not stop Korea's primary hitters in the first and second sets and we played poorly at the net," said USA head coach Toshiaki Yoshida following the match. "However, from the third set on we dominated. We need to work on our overall offense."

USA middle blocker Danielle Scott (Baton Rouge, La./Long Beach State) led all scorers with 15 kills, three blocks and two aces. Logan Tom (Salt Lake City, Utah/Stanford Univ.) and Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif./Univ. of Hawaii) each added 16 kills in the win.

"It is always nice to get a win," said Scott. "It was good to see our team find a way to win when we are not playing our best. The competition here is great. Our biggest challenge right now is to better our side and play consistently at a high level. Again, I think the subs came in and did a good job."

Cuba beat Brazil 3-2 (25-21, 27-29, 25-22, 21-25, 17-15) in other pool B play. In other action from pool A, Russia beat Japan 3-2 (25-22, 25-14, 19-25, 21-25, 15-7) and China beat Germany 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-18).

For more information on USA Volleyball, go to the USA Volleyball website.

For more information on the 2001 FIVB Grand Prix, go to the FIVB website.