Team USA advanced to the medal round by defeating Costa Rica 3-0 and Puerto Rico 3-1, before concluding Pool B action with a 3-0 loss to Cuba. The U.S. lost to Brazil 25-13, 25-20, 25-20 on July 18 in the semifinal round.

Cuba claimed the Pan American Games title later in the day by defeating host Brazil 25-27, 25-22, 22-25, 34-32, 17-15 in front of 12,750 fans. The Cubans saved a handful of match points in the fourth set to extend the match to five sets, then came back from a 14-12 deficit in the fifth set to win.

The U.S. built a 15-9 lead early in the opening set versus Peru, but had to break away from a 16-all tie en route to a 25-22. Team USA held an 8-4 lead at the first technical timeout of the second set, but withstood a Peru charge for a 25-22 victory that resulted in nine ties and four lead changes. The U.S. scored 14 points from its two middle blockers in the second set. The U.S. never trailed in the third set and led 21-14, but needed to hold off a late Peru run to win 25-22.

“I am really proud how our team played throughout the tournament,” said Sue Woodstra, U.S. Women’s National Team head coach for the Pan American Games. “We have young players getting valuable experience, and the Pan American Games is a chance to see them in this type of atmosphere and evaluate them.”

Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Laguna Hills, Calif.) tallied a match-high 15 points for Team USA on 12 kills (18 attacks), three blocks and an ace. Danielle Scott-Arruda (Baton Rouge, La.) and Foluke Akinradewo (Plantation, Fla.) each totaled 14 points from the middle. Scott-Arruda reached the total with 11 kills and three blocks, while Akinradewo contributed 12 kills and two blocks. Cynthia Barboza (Long Beach, Calif.) added nine points on eight kills and an ace to go with a team-high 16 digs. Cassie Busse (Prior Lake, Minn.) chalked up seven points on five kills and two blocks, while Courtney Thompson (Kent, Wash.) recorded five points on three aces and two blocks to go with 29 assists and 11 digs. Kristen Fenton Michaelis (Marysville, Mich.) collected 11 digs in the match.

“We wanted to establish the middle today,” Woodstra said. “If our team passes well, we can run all our options on offense. Also, we were successful on serve-receive as well as on defense. This enabled to set the middles with success.”

Woodstra started Scott-Arruda and Akinradewo at middle blocker, Haneef-Park and Barboza at outside hitter, Busse at opposite and Thompson at setter. Fenton Michaelis is the U.S. designated libero for the tournament.

“I think our team has improved each match in the tournament,” Scott-Arruda said. “Today we were able to put everything together and beat a great Peruvian team that plays great defense.”

Peru was led by Patty Soto’s 10 points on eight kills, one block and one ace. Carla Tristan turned in eight kills and a block for nine points.

The U.S. outblocked Peru 11-6 and held a 6-3 advantage in aces. Peru held a slim 58-56 advantage in digs.

“Peru played awfully well throughout the tournament,” Woodstra said. “They are a difficult team to play as they do not make mistakes.”

The U.S. has medaled in 11 of the 15 Pan American Games. Scott-Arruda has a silver medal (1995) and two bronze medals (1999 and 2007) in her four trips to the Pan American Games. Meanwhile, Barboza also earned a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games.

Peru grabbed an early 3-1 lead in the opening set after a long rally and overpass resulted in kills. Team USA tied the set at 3-all as Haneef-Park and Barboza connected for back-to-back kills. Scott-Arruda picked up back-to-back points on a kill and block to return the lead in favor of the U.S. at 6-5. Peru reached the technical timeout in the lead at 8-7 after consecutive points. Akinradewo and Haneef-Park scored back-to-back kills to put the U.S. in the lead at 9-8. Haneef-Park put up a block followed by consecutive Thompson aces ran the U.S. unanswered streak to five points and a 12-8 advantage. Out of a Peru timeout, Akinradewo and Haneef-Park put up a block for a 13-8 lead. After the point streak ended at five, Akinradewo scored a kill and block to increase the U.S. margin to six at 15-9. Peru answered with a three-point run of its own with two blocks to close to within three at 15-12. After the technical timeout, Peru notched four consecutive points to tie the set at 16-all. Busse ended the bleeding with a kill out of a timeout followed by a Scott-Arruda blast off the block to place the score at 18-16. The U.S. added a third consecutive point on Busse’s serve as Peru was called for a ball handling error at 19-16. Peru inched to within one after back-to-back points, but Haneef-Park stopped the run with a kill at 21-19. Haneef-Park tagged a kill, which was followed by Thompson’s third ace of the set for a 23-20 advantage forcing Peru’s second timeout. Peru challenged again with a two-run to close to within 23-22, but Haneef-Park pounded a kill to give the U.S. a set point at 24-22. Akinradewo put up a block on the first chance for the set at 25-22.

Team USA gained a two-point cushion early in the second set with an Akinradewo kill and two Peru errors for a 3-1 advantage. Akinradewo downed her second kill of the set to increase the margin to five at 5-2. Peru crept back to within one at 5-4 with a kill and block. Akinradewo pounded a slide followed by a Scott-Arruda kill and block to push the lead to 8-4 into the technical timeout. Peru sliced the deficit to one at 8-7 with a kill, ace and block out of the break. Scott-Arruda put up a block after a Peru service error to push the lead back to three at 10-7. However, Peru again put together consecutive points with a kill and ace to move to within one at 10-11. Peru tied the set at 12-all after two saving digs followed by a kill, then went up 13-12 with a kill off the U.S. block. Akinradewo broke the Peru string of three points with a kill off the slide to tie the set at 13-all. Team USA returned to the lead at 15-14 as Akinradewo hit a quick down the middle followed by a Haneef-Park ace. Peru quickly returned to the lead with consecutive points after the technical timeout to gain a 17-16 advantage. Barboza produced a kill followed by a Scott-Arruda block to give the lead back to Team USA at 18-17. Scott-Arruda put up back-to-back blocks to give the U.S. a two-point separation at 20-18. Peru tied the set at 21-all after consecutive U.S. attack errors. The U.S. gained the serve back on a Peru service error which was followed by an Akinradewo block for a 23-21 advantage. Peru attacked long to give the U.S. a 24-22 set point. Haneef-Park closed out the set with an ace, the second of the period, that just cleared the net in front of the three-meter line. The middle blocker combination of Scott-Arruda and Akinradewo picked up eight and six points, respectively, in the second set.

Team USA broke a 2-all tie with kills from Scott-Arruda and Barboza around a Peru attack error to earn a 5-2 advantage. After a Peru rally, the U.S. scored consecutive kills by Haneef-Park and Barboza to go into the technical break up 8-5. The U.S. increased the margin to four at 13-9 after a Scott-Arruda kill and Peru attack error. Peru answered with three consecutive points to move to within one at 13-12 leading to a U.S. timeout. The U.S. regained its four-point cushion at 16-12 on kills from Barboza and Scott-Arruda around a Peru attack error. Team USA forced Peru into its second timeout after a kill by Akinradewo put the margin at five, 19-14. Haneef-Park turned in two kills out of the break to give the U.S. a commanding 21-14 advantage. Peru scored four consecutive points to close to within three, 22-19. Peru continued its comeback with consecutive points to move the score to 23-21, but Barboza slammed a kill to give the U.S. a match point at 24-21. Scott-Arruda ended the match with a block on the second match-point opportunity.

To view the U.S. Women’s National Team Press Kit for the Pan American Games, go to http://www.usavolleyball.org/media/national/07PanAmGamesPressKit.pdf.

2007 U.S. Women’s National Team Pan American Games Roster
# - Name (Position, Height, College, Hometown
2 – Danielle Scott-Arruda (Middle Blocker, 6-2, Long Beach State, Baton Rouge, La.)
3 – Tayyiba Haneef-Park (Outside Hitter, 6-7, Long Beach State, Laguna Hills, Calif.)
4 – Charnette Fair (Opposite, 5-11, Minnesota, Atlanta, Georgia)
5 – Kristen Fenton Michaelis (Libero, 5-11, Fresno State, Marysville, Mich.)
6 – Foluke Akinradewo (Middle Blocker, 6-3, Stanford, Plantation, Fla.)
7 – Laura Tomes (Middle Blocker, 6-2, Oklahoma, Sioux City, Iowa)
10 – Cynthia Barboza (Outside Hitter, 6-0, Stanford, Long Beach, Calif.)
12 – Kimberly Noble (Outside Hitter, 5-11, San Jose State, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
13 – Marcie Hampton (Outside Hitter, 6-1, Florida, Gainesville, Fla.)
15 – Courtney Thompson (Setter, 5-8, Washington, Kent, Wash.)
16 – Lindsey Hunter (Setter, 5-10, Missouri, Papillion, Neb.)
18 – Cassie Busse (Opposite, 6-1, Minnesota, Prior Lake, Minn.)

Head Coach: Sue Woodstra
Assistant Coach: Gen Kawakita

Pool A Standings
Brazil 3-0
Peru 2-1
Dominican Republic 1-2
Mexico 0-3

Pool A Schedule
July 14: Dominican Republic def. Mexico, 25-23, 25-18, 25-19
July 14: Brazil def. Peru, 25-15, 25-19, 25-12
July 15: Peru def. Mexico, 25-16, 25-23, 25-17
July 15: Brazil def. Dominican Republic, 28-26, 25-16, 25-15
July 16: Brazil def. Mexico, 25-16, 25-15, 25-17
July 16: Peru def. Dominican Republic, 14-25, 25-13, 23-25, 29-27, 15-8

Pool B Standings
Cuba 3-0
United States 2-1
Puerto Rico 1-2
Costa Rica 0-3

Pool B Schedule
July 14: USA def. Costa Rica, 25-9, 25-19, 25-12
July 14: Cuba def. Puerto Rico, 25-18, 25-17, 24-26, 25-23
July 15: USA def. Puerto Rico, 21-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-22
July 15: Cuba def. Costa Rica, 25-17, 25-12, 27-25
July 16: Puerto Rico def. Costa Rica, 25-14, 25-19, 25-14
July 16: Cuba def. USA, 25-16, 25-23, 25-15

Classification Round

July 18: Dominican Republic (Pool A3) def. Costa Rica (Pool B4), 25-17, 25-6, 25-15. (5th-8th Place Bracket)
July 18: Brazil (Pool A1) def. USA (Pool B2), 25-13, 25-20, 25-20 (Semifinals)
July 18: Puerto Rico (Pool B3) def. Mexico (Pool A4), 25-19, 25-21, 25-18 (5th-8th Place Bracket)
July 18: Cuba (Pool B1) def. Peru (Pool A2), 25-15, 25-23, 25-22 (Semifinals)

July 19: USA def. Peru, 25-22, 25-22, 25-22 (Third-Place Match)
July 19: Brazil def. Cuba, 25-27, 25-22, 22-25, 34-32, 17-15 (Championship)
July 19: Mexico vs. Costa Rica, 7 p.m. (Seventh Place)
July 19: Dominican Republic vs. Puerto Rico, 10 p.m. (Fifth Place)