USA women's sitting volleyball team wins another five-set thriller

by Paul Soriano USA Volleyball Manager, Media Relations & Publications

For the second time in three matches the USA Women's Sitting Volleyball Team went the distance, and its persistence paid off with another five-set win at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. Read on for the story.

Lora Webster scored a team-high 20 points and Kendra Lancaster posted 15 points to lead four players in double-figures as the United States downed Slovenia, 3-2, Thursday night at Helliniko Olympic Complex.

Webster (Cave Creek, Ariz.) ripped 15 kills to go along with four blocks and one service ace in a 16-25, 25-22, 15-25, 27-25, 15-9 victory that improved Team USA's record to 2-1 overall.

"It was a great hustle by Lora," said Team USA assistant coach Denise Van de Walle after the match. "But you just couldn't single anyone out tonight. It was truly a team effort."

Lancaster (Sheridan, Ind.) added 10 kills and a team-high-tying five aces, including two pivotal winners in the final set. Brenda Maymon (Sellersburg, Ind.) also served up five aces along with four kills and three blocks en route to scoring 12 points.

Allison Ahlfeldt (Newport Beach, Calif.) chipped in with 10 points on eight kills, one block and one ace as Team USA, now in just its second year of existence, overcame a 3-0 loss to China in their previous match and chalked up another five-set win. The Americans began competition on Sept. 21 with a 3-2 win over Finland.

Slovenia's Anita Goltnik Urnaut, who scored a match-high 29 points on 19 kills, eight blocks and two aces, asserted her dominance early in the first set as a tragedy of unforced errors unfolded on the U.S. side of the net.

But the Americans regrouped in set two, fueled by the strong arm of Webster with several strategic placements from Ahlfeldt and Lancaster that resulted in American points.

Slovenia got out to an early lead in the third set and at the spread reached as many as 12 points (21-9). The USA couldn't overcome the deficit and lost by a margin of 10.

Maymon came alive in set four with a star-quality serve, helping the United States to a 5-2 lead. She was also responsible for the Americans' 26th point before a well-placed dump by Webster ended the set, 27-25, to keep the red, white and blue alive.

In the tiebreaking fifth set, the two teams traded point for point just before the Americans went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-6 lead that left Slovenia stunned and panicked.

Ahlfeldt blasted a big kill, Maymon tipped into a perfect hole, and all the Americans had to do was wait for Slovenia to make one final mistake and seal its fate. It did two plays later as the United States cruised to a 15-9 victory in the final set.

"We had calmed down by that fifth set," said Team USA captain Gina McWilliams (Flower Mound, Texas), who scored three points. "We were actually overexcited during the warm-ups, and I think that hurt our consistency early on. Once we started playing our game, we knew this match could be won. We just hope we don't take them all into five sets."

After playing the final match of the day on Thursday, the Americans get an early wake-up call on Friday when they play Ukraine at 9 a.m. (Athens time) in the first match of the day at Helliniko Olympic Complex.

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