Going for gold! USA women defeat Brazil in 5 in Olympics volleyball semifinals

PARIS — They’re back in the last match of the tournament and going for gold, and, no, they’re not defending their Olympic gold medal.

The USA women are trying to win another one and get to do so Sunday afternoon against Italy.

But Thursday they just needed a burst, something to put some pressure on Brazil.

It never happened in the fourth set of the 25-23, 18-25, 25-15, 23-25, 15-11 victory.

The Americans trailed 4-6 in the fifth set of the Olympics women’s volleyball semifinals and it happened.

Avery Skinner, a first-time Olympian, tooled the block to make it 5-6.

Then, in a most spectacular, frenzied rally, reserve setter Lauren Carlini, another first-time Olympian, in as part of the USA’s double sub, made a couple of remarkable digs off Brazi’s Rosamaria Montibeller. 

“She’s one of our players who has embraced her role and is one of the best defensive setters in the world,” opposite Annie Drews said. “And she’s just out there doing her thing. I tell her all the time that it’s like a dog playing fetch, watching Lauren play defense.”

The point ended on another kill by Skinner.

On the next play, Carlini fetched another dig and Jordan Thompson, the other half of that double sub, who comes in for setter Jordyn Poulter after Carlini goes in for Drews, finished the point with a kill. The Americans had their first lead of the set.

Not quite breathing room, but the charge was on.

Brazil tied it on a kill by Thaisa, the USA went ahead 8-7 on another kill by Skinner, and Brazil tied it again on a kill by Gabi.

Then came the breathing room. Chiaka Ogbogu, a second-time Olympian who played sparingly when the USA won the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, hit a quick from Poulter. Suddenly the lead was two when Brazil setter Roberta Ratzke was called for a double.

An unhappy Brazil coach Ze Roberto called time, but it didn’t help. Ana Cristina, the Brazilian superstar who finished with 22 kills, sailed an attack out of bounds and then Drews crushed a ball to give the USA a 12-8 lead.

It took the edge off a decidedly raucous pro-Brazil crowd and Ze Roberto called time again, but the damage was done, although Ana Cristina got a kill and Ana da Silva blocked another first-time Olympian, Kathryn Plummer, who had the match of her life, considering the circumstances, with 23 kills, two blocks and an ace.

Plummer, the 6-foot-6 outside, was undeterred and scored on the next play, sending a soft shot to the middle of the floor and it was 13-10. Haleigh Washington blocked Ana Cristina and it was match point.

Plummer had an attack error, but bounced back again. Drews got dug but Brazil could only manage a free ball. Poulter found Plummer and she blasted it through the block of da Silva and the celebration was on.

“What an amazing match. We went at them hard, they came at us hard, we went at them really hard in the third and what a great response they had in the fourth,” USA coach Karch Kiraly said. 

“And they got out to a lead in the fifth but our firepower with Plum, with Avery, with Annie, their termination ability was a big thing, really huge. And to have two people in their first Olympics, with Avery and Plum, they’re killing it. You wouldn’t be able to tell this is their fourth Olympic start ever and two of them were in a knockout quarterfinal to go to the gold medal match. They just, they look like they’ve been doing this for four Olympics. They are really handling the moment well.”

Carlini, who played in the first match of the tournament, the USA’s five-set loss to China, but was then removed for two matches because of a back injury, is obviously healthy now. She had eight digs.

“Defense is my M.O. and she got me once earlier in the match and I was like not again,” Carlini said. “Honestly, the block was set up good and it was just back to business plays, not over-thinking it and keeping it simple. I was just ready for that moment in that moment.”

Kiraly was not surprised.

“Lauren plays some of the best back-right zone-one defense on the planet,” Kiraly said. “That’s one of the benefits she brings, whether if she’s running us as a setter or as a double sub.”

Skinner finished with 15 kills, three blocks and an ace to go with 10 digs. Plummer, who hit .318, had seven digs and some key assists. Plummer was under the weather heading into the match but fought through it. 

Kathryn Plummer, Avery Skinner shine in “big moments”

“It’s so cool to see her (Plummer) and Avery Skinner in big moments,” libero Justine Wong-Orantes said. “We know they’re strong hammers out there and they are playing with extreme poise and honestly leading the charge for us.”

“I knew we had some good matchups and wanted to exploit them early,” Plummer said. “Obviously their middles are huge and get a lot of blocks, but we were able to combat that.”

Not totally, of course. Brazil had seven blocks to the USA’s three in the first set, but finished with a 15-13 advantage.

Drews had 17 kills but did not lead the team for the first time in five Olympic matches. She hit .433 and added an ace and six digs.

Ogobogu had five kills and four blocks, Thompson had four kills and a block, and Haleigh Washington had four kills and a block and while she didn’t have any aces, was an extremely effective server. 

“I’m in shock right now,” said Thompson, a star in the first half of the Tokyo run before being lost to an injury and getting replaced by Drews. For that matter she’s fought injuries this year, which doesn’t make her unique on this roster. “If you look at what this team has looked like throughout this quad it’s been really bumpy with a lot of ups and downs. Of course we hope to win games and do well in a tournament like this, but I’m just really proud of how this team has been battling and preparing and I’m so fricking excited to battle for another gold medal.”

Poulter had nine digs, a block and an ace and libero Justine Wong-Orantes had 10 digs.

“This whole entire quad has been really hard for us and we’ve moved through a lot of stuff, good and bad, and to get this win feels like we accomplished something way bigger than just tonight,” Wong-Orantes said.

Plummer won three NCAA titles at Stanford and has had a tremendous pro career, but this is a different level.

“This is what you play your sport for and this is why you want to come to the Olympics,” Plummer said. “Really (when talking about it earlier) I got a little emotional but I’m not going to get emotional now, but you want to play in a five-set semifinal match in the Olympics. That’s what you grow up wanting to do. 

“Obviously it would be great to sweep teams, but having the environment with all the Brazil fans, all the USA fans, all the volleyball fans in general, and being able to perform at this level is great.”

Brazil’s Ana Cristina hit .363 and had two blocks and five digs. Gabi Guimaraes had 15 kills, hitting .149, and had a block to go with 10 digs.

“She is such a Xena warrior and leads her team so well,” Kiraly said. 

Montebiller had 12 kills and two blocks. Thaisa had eight kills with no errors in 12 attacks and two blocks. Libero Nyeme Costa had 18 digs.

“It’s a mix of feelings right now,” Ana Cristina said. “I’m obviously very sad to not be in the final, but also grateful to be here at the Olympics again. 

“I felt that we let them have some runs at times and maybe we didn’t play at our usual level, but in general, I’m very proud of the team because we fought until the end and we believed until the last ball went down. Unfortunately we didn’t make it, but that’s sports. 

“We’ll cry all we have to cry tonight and tomorrow we start preparing for the bronze-medal match. Bringing a medal back to our country is incredibly important and we really deserve it. We deserved gold, which we’re not going to get, but we’ll go for bronze.”

Italy, which swept Türkiye later Thursday, is in its first Olympic final. The USA had three silvers and a bronze before winning in Tokyo three years ago.

The questions persist from those casual observers, mostly media members who don’t follow volleyball but sense a good story. And this USA team is one. The Americans lost in five to open pool play, beat Serbia in five, won a tough sweep over France, then battled to a sweep over Poland in the quarterfinals.

“I think the casual fan, to the people who are just tuning in for the Olympics, they’re hearing that this team is supposed to repeat, right? They’re the gold medalists in 2021 in Tokyo and the people who have been watching this past quad know that’s not going to be the case,” Carlini said.

“This is kind of a Cinderella run of sorts where this quad has been really tough for us. And in this tournament we’ve peaked at the right time and now we have a chance win a gold medal.

“There’ are no words,” Carlini added and then laughed. “I don’t think anyone would have drawn this up on their Bingo card for 2024.”