Treasure Hunt: United States, China and Russia Remain Unbeaten in Women’s Indoor Volleyball

                           Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0

Quest for Olympic Gold Continues on Wednesday

Four teams — the United States, China, Russia and Italy  — remain unbeaten after the first two days of women’s indoor volleyball competition in the 2012 Olympics.  Given that its next match is against Algeria, Russia is likely to stay that way, as is Italy, which takes on Great Britain on Wednesday.

For the United States and #-3 ranked China, who play each other on Wednesday (3:00 p.m. EST), it’s another thing entirely — only one will end the day with a perfect record.

The Chinese, who won the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games and were bronze medal winners in 2008 in Beijing, defeated Turkey in their last match 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 29-31 and 25-22), led by 6-3 WS Wang Yimei (14 kills) and 6-2 WS Hui Ruoqi, who scored 21 points against Turkey.

This will be a real test for the Americans — China is very good and, as pointed out in an article by Kyle Brennan of nbcolympics.com, represents the last major obstacle for the U.S. women in Group B preliminary-round play.  Conversely, the United States will be China’s first opponent that is ranked in the top-five in the world.

It should be a great match, which will either solidify the leader-status of the United States, or force a re-boot.  We’re betting on the former.

2012 U.S. Women's Olympic Volleyball Team

#NamePositionHeightHometownStateBirth
Year
CollegeConf.
2Scott-Arruda, DanielleMB6-2Baton RougeLA1972LBSUBig West
3Haneef-Park, TayyibaOpp6-7Laguna HillsCA1979LBSUBig West
4 Berg, LindseyS5-8HonoluluHI1980MinnesotaB1G
5Miyashiro, TamariL5-7KaneoheHI1987WashingtonPac 12
6Davis, NicoleL5-4StocktonCA1982USCPac 12
10Larson, JordanOH6-2HooperNE1986NebraskaB1G
11Hodge, MeganOH6-3DurhamNC1988Penn StateB1G
13Harmotto, ChristaMB6-2HopewellPA1986Penn StateB1G
15Tom, LoganOH6-1Salt Lake CityUT1981StanfordPac 12
16Akinradewo, FolukeMB6-3PlantationFL1987StanfordPac 12
17Thompson, CourtneyS5-8KentWA1984WashingtonPac 12
19Hooker, DestineeOpp6-4San AntonioTX1987TexasBig 12

2012 Olympics Women's Volleyball Roster - China

#NamePos.Ht.AgeClub
1WANG YimeiWS6-324Liaoning
2MI YangS5-1123Tianjin
4HUI RuoqiWS6-221Jiangsu
6CHU JinlingWS6-128Liaoning
7ZHANG XianL5-627Liaoning
8WEI QuiyueS6-023Tianjin
9YANG JunjingMB6-323Army
10SHAN DannaWS5-620Zhejiang
11XU YunliMB6-524Fujian
12ZENG ChunleiOS6-122Beijing
15MA YunwenMB6-225Shanghai
17ZHANG LeiOS5-1127Shanghai

Cumulative Scoring - United States

#NamePositionHeightMatchesSrvSpkBlkPts
2Scott-Arruda, DanielleMB6-2208311
3Haneef-Park, TayyibaOpp6-750123
4 Berg, LindseyS5-851607
5Miyashiro, TamariL5-750000
6Davis, NicoleL5-450000
10Larson, JordanOH6-25245451
11Hodge, MeganOH6-32019019
13Harmotto, ChristaMB6-25220830
15Tom, LoganOH6-15240648
16Akinradewo, FolukeMB6-351411560
17Thompson, CourtneyS5-850000
19Hooker, DestineeOpp6-4538714104