The women of USA volleyball took it to five sets once again, just like they did against China on Monday night, but this time, they got the result in a thrilling matchup with Serbia.
“We did it in the most dramatic fashion, but I’m just really proud of my team,” Chiaka Ogbogu, who is from Coppell, said.
The win was led by a stellar blocking performance by Ogbogu who had eight of the team’s 19 blocks in the match and totaled 14 points with six kills, according to USA Volleyball.
“We realized the mistakes we made in the first game that we played in five sets and we knew that we didn’t want to end the same way,” Ogbogu said.
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She also said the electric crowd helped to propel them to victory. Something that was missing at the last Olympics where she and Team USA won gold.
“I mean this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience when it comes to playing in front of this crowd. We don’t let this chance at home to play in front of a crowd like this. I hope this starts a movement in America with all the leagues coming to the States. Like I hope we get this type of crowd all the time. I looked up at one point and I’m like this is literally what you dreamt of,” Ogbogu said.
Ogbogu, who is considered a veteran on the team, said that she is just grateful to have this opportunity again. But she noted, they can only be successful if they have a short-term memory.
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“This tournament is a beat and it's even harder with this new format, so it’s really just celebrating it just for tonight and then it’s back to work tomorrow and the next days. It’s just knowing now we have that belief, but nobody as we just saw is going to give it to us. We have to work for it,” Ogbogu said.
Ogbogu mentioned the new format. She also talked about how it makes it even tougher to get to medal rounds.
“Last time there were two pools of six. Now there’s four pools of four and it’s you have to be top two in your pool to make it out to the quarterfinals or the best third, two of the best third teams. It comes down to points. It comes down to relying on people and you don’t want to do that when you don’t get the results that you need,” Ogbogu said.
It was a much-needed win for the now-ranked sixth team in the world.
USA earned three points by splitting two, fixe-set matches and is likely to advance to the quarterfinals. That is secured with a win against France on Sunday.
