USA women's sitting volleyball team reaches Paralympic medal round

by Paul Soriano USA Volleyball Manager, Media Relations & Publications

Another day, another five-set match, another victory for the USA Women's Sitting Volleyball Team at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Kendra Lancaster (Sheridan, Ind.) scored a team-high 16 points to lead four players in double figures as the United States held on to defeat Ukraine, 3-2, Friday morning at the Helliniko Olympic Complex.

Team USA clinched a spot in the medal round with the victory as they sewed up the No. 3 spot in the pool. The Americans will play the No. 2 team (either China or the Netherlands) in Sunday's semifinal round, with the winner advancing to the gold medal match.

Lancaster had nine kills, a team-high six service aces and one block in the 21-25, 25-17, 25-17, 14-25, 15-8 win that improved Team USA's record to 3-1 overall with one preliminary match to go.

Allison Aldrich (Schuyler, Neb.) scored 13 points on a team-high 11 kills and two aces, while Lora Webster (Cave Creek, Ariz.) and team captain Gina McWilliams (Flower Mound, Texas) added 10 points apiece in the victory. Webster had seven kills, two blocks and one ace, while McWilliams tallied seven kills and three aces.

All three of the Americans' wins have come in five sets: Finland on Sept. 21, Slovenia on Sept. 23 and Ukraine on Sept. 24. The team's only loss came in three sets to unbeaten China (4-0) on Sept. 22.

The United States got off to a sluggish start with a 21-25 loss in game one on Friday but went ahead early on in the second set and twice took as much as an eight-point lead. Webster was all over the court in game two, contributing points with her serve and several at the net.

With their momentum going strong, Team USA again took control early in set three as Lancaster's right arm heated up with four of her service aces coming in that set. The Allison duo of Aldrich and Ahlfeldt (Newport Beach, Calif.) were technically perfect at the end of the set, pairing up to place the Americans' final three points on its way to a convincing 2-1 lead after three sets.

The energy shifted in set four and a visibly frustrated American team faced a Ukrainian wall that blocked flawlessly. Trailing from the third point on, the Americans would not ever hold a lead in that set. A usually reserved USA head coach Mike Hulett became suddenly vocal during the second technical timeout.

"Let's just say it was a heated exchange - a one-way heated exchange," Hulett said after the match. "They just weren't playing well. We're a better team than what we played today, and we had too many errors coming at poor times."

The exchange heated up the team in the fifth as the Americans sailed to a 15-8 victory that made the game look easy.

"[We] are a team with limited weapons," Hulett added. "What we learned from this match is that we can't just give away points to anybody [on errors]. In this competition, it's whoever plays well that will win the match. You can't take anything for granted here."

Team USA will conclude pool play Saturday with a 12:30 p.m. (Athens time) match against the Netherlands.

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