USA have won six consecutive matches in the Olympic tournament to continue as the only undefeated team in the tournament
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 17, 2016 – The battle for the medals in the women’s volleyball segment of Rio 2016 Olympic Games features all four teams in the semifinal round –United States, Serbia, Netherlands and China- coming from the strong Pool B dubbed as “The Group of Death” prior to the start of the competition.
With the now dethroned Brazil out of sight, a new Olympic champion will be crowned in Rio de Janeiro with China as the only previous gold medal winners at Los Angeles 1984 and Athens 2000 among the current contenders.
Both United States and Serbia are coming off comfortable straight-set victories over Japan and Russia, respectively, in the knock-out quarterfinals stage. When these two teams were pitted together in the strong Pool B, the Americans came out winners 3-1 in a match between undefeated sides.
Quick links - Men's Quarterfinals - Wednesday, August 17:Brazil beat Argentina 3-1 (25-22, 17-25, 25-17, 25-19)
Quick links - Women's Semifinals - Thursday, August 18: Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Volleyball historySetter Alisha Glass conducts a balanced USA offence that features five players among the top five scorers of the tournament led by Foluke Akinradewo who also tops the list of the best attackers.
Tijana Boskovic and Brankica Mihajlovic form a prolific scoring tandem of a Serbian team that leads the pack as the best in the serves and blocking categories.
In the quarterfinals, China stunned two-time gold medalists Brazil in a five-set thriller while the Netherlands side overcame Korea in four sets. Netherlands and China clashed on the first day of the tournament back on August 6 with the Dutch side prevailing in a grueling five-setter.
The match could be the scene of a personal scoring duel between Dutch Lonneke Sloetjes and Chinese Zhu Ting, who are 1-2 (123-121) in the charts.