Final score: USA 3,
Serbia 0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-16)
Next match: Sunday, 12noon (Pacific) vs. Turkey (2-2)
This could be Logan Tom’s last Olympics.
If so, the 31-year-old Stanford grad seems determined to make
it memorable.
 |
Logan Tom (right) snaps a kill past Serbia's block attempt
-Reuters |
Tom finished with 10 kills and
just 2 errors on 18 swings (.444) as USA
(4-0) defeated Serbia (0-4) in three
sets. With the win, USA clinches the top Pool B seed in next week’s
quarterfinals.
This is Tom’s fourth Olympics,
and she did not take London by storm. In the first match, a 3-1 victory over
South Korea, Tom hit a miserable .088, with just 8 kills and 5 errors on 34
swings. But in a 3-1 win against Brazil, she had just one error with 12 kills
and hit a sensational .407.
Against China—a 3-0 victory—Tom saw
19 attack attempts, and converted just 5 kills (.210). But as her performance
today against Serbia showed, the team is better when she's on her game.
Tom is USA’s most consistent
server, and is usually the opponent’s serving target. She had just one
serve-receive error against Brazil (out of 23 attempts), and had no errors
against the Serbians. Her game face seems famously locked in a scowl, but when
she’s in her zone, she plays defense with the intensity of a libero.
For the match, USA outgunned
Serbia .353 to .147. In large part, Serbia’s weak serve allowed USA to stay in
system, so it ran its offense with minimal effort. USA totaled just 87 attack
attempts—by far its lowest match total of these Olympics.
As usual, USA setter Lindsey Berg gave most attack opportunities to Destinee Hooker, who responded
with 12 kills and 2 errors on 21 attempts (.476)—half her average of 42
attempts for the first three matches. Tom and Foluke Akinradewo (6 kills, .286) were the beneficiaries of Berg's wider distribution.
 |
Destinee Hooker and Foluke Akinradewo
-AP |
Hooker’s defense was way off the
mark; she had six digging errors, an area of some concern entering the
Olympics.
Megan Hodge came off her stellar China performance with a thud—1 kill,
2 errors on 7 attempts (-.142) She split time with usual starter Jordan Larson, who contributed what she
could (5 kills, .333).
All 12 roster players saw
playing time, with Danielle Scott-Arruda
and Christa Harmotto sharing time,
and Courtney Thompson and Tama Miyashiro making spot appearances.
Thompson was the setter for the final six serves of the first set. Neither
Thompson nor starting setter Berg distinguished themselves during the end of a
somewhat lackluster second set.
USA will be the top seed from
Pool B when medal round play begins next week. Its likely first opponent will
be Dominican Republic (1-3).
First, however, USA must face Turkey on Sunday. Turkey is one of four
Pool B teams with 2-2 records, and will likely need to win at least two sets
against USA to advance.
With an 0-3 loss today to Dominican Republic, host Britain's hopes to advance to the medal round all but evaporated. Former Washington player Janine Sandell had six kills for Britain, which was outhit .395 to .068 as a team for the match. The British can still advance if it beats Japan (2-2) and Algeria (0-4) manages to defeat Dominican Republic.
[Note: teams are awarded three points for a 3-0 or 3-1 victory; 2 points for a 3-2 victory; 1 point for a 2-3 loss; and no points for a 1-3 or 0-3 loss. The top four team in each pool advances to the medal round quarterfinals, with the #1 seed in each pool facing the #4 seed in the other pool and the #2 seeds squaring off against the opposite pools #3.]
Pool A
|
|
WINS
|
LOSSES
|
POINTS
|
1
|
Russia
|
Gr. Britain (3-0)
Dom. Rep. (3-1)
Algeria (3-0)
Japan (3-1)
|
|
12
|
2
|
Italy
|
Dom. Rep. (3-1)
Japan (3-1)
Gr. Britain (3-0)
Algeria (3-0)
|
|
12
|
3
|
Japan
|
Algeria (3-0)
Dom. Rep. (3-0)
|
Italy (1-3)
Russia (1-3)
|
6
|
4
|
Dominican Republic
|
Gr. Britain (3-0)
|
Italy (1-3)
Russia (1-3)
Japan (0-3)
|
3
|
5
|
Great Britain
|
Algeria (3-2)
|
Russia (0-3)
Italy (0-3)
Dom. Rep. (0-3)
|
2
|
6
|
Algeria
|
|
Japan (0-3)
Gr. Britain (2-3)
Russia (0-3)
Italy (0-3)
|
1
|
Sunday's schedule: Russia vs. Italy, Japan vs. Great Britain, Dominican Republic vs. Algeria
Pool B
|
|
WINS
|
LOSSES
|
POINTS
|
1
|
USA
|
Korea (3-1)
Brazil (3-1)
China (3-1)
Serbia (3-0)
|
|
12
|
2
|
South Korea
|
Serbia (3-1)
Brazil (3-0)
|
USA (1-3)
Turkey (2-3)
|
7
|
3
|
China
|
Serbia (3-1)
Turkey (3-1)
|
USA (0-3)
Brazil (2-3)
|
7
|
4
|
Turkey
|
Serbia (3-0)
Korea (3-2)
|
Brazil (2-3)
China (1-3)
|
6
|
5
|
Brazil
|
Turkey (3-2)
China (3-2)
|
USA (1-3)
Korea (0-3)
|
4
|
6
|
Serbia
|
|
China (1-3)
Korea (1-3)
Turkey (0-3)
USA (0-3)
|
0
|
Sunday's schedule: USA vs. Turkey, South Korea vs. China, Brazil vs. Serbia
