USA reaches first women’s volleyball final since coach won gold with China
August 21, 2008
Back in 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympics the USA were defeated by China 3-0 in the women’s volleyball final. A key player for the Chinese was Lang Ping. Fast forward 24 years and Lang Ping is now coach of the USA women’s team.
Today in Beijing the Lang Ping coached team from USA has easily accounted for three time Olympic champions Cuba winning 3-0. The final score was 25-20, 25-16, 25-17. This is a complete turnaround from the pool result when on August 11 Cuba defeated the US 3-0.
The USA team saw Logan Tom and Tayyiba Haneef-Park pile on the points with good hitting and blocking. The libero for USA Nicole Davis also put in a good performance with many key digs.
The USA overpowered Cuba on the way to their semifinal victory. For coach Lang Ping she could come up against her old team in the final. In the past as a coach of China, she led the Chinese to a silver medal in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. On that occasion Cuba won gold.
The other semifinal will be played tonight between China and the top ranked Brazilian team. China are the defending Olympic champions while Brazil were second in the 2006 world championships and recently won the 2008 World Grand Prix an event that China were place fifth.
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