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

#	Name	Position	Height	Hometown	State	Birth Year	College	Conf.
2	Scott-Arruda, Danielle	MB	6-2	Baton Rouge	LA	1972	LBSU	Big West
3	Haneef-Park, Tayyiba	Opp	6-7	Laguna Hills	CA	1979	LBSU	Big West
4	Berg, Lindsey	S	5-8	Honolulu	HI	1980	Minnesota	B1G
5	Miyashiro, Tamari	L	5-7	Kaneohe	HI	1987	Washington	Pac 12
6	Davis, Nicole	L	5-4	Stockton	CA	1982	USC	Pac 12
10	Larson, Jordan	OH	6-2	Hooper	NE	1986	Nebraska	B1G
11	Hodge, Megan	OH	6-3	Durham	NC	1988	Penn State	B1G
13	Harmotto, Christa	MB	6-2	Hopewell	PA	1986	Penn State	B1G
15	Tom, Logan	OH	6-1	Salt Lake City	UT	1981	Stanford	Pac 12
16	Akinradewo, Foluke	MB	6-3	Plantation	FL	1987	Stanford	Pac 12
17	Thompson, Courtney	S	5-8	Kent	WA	1984	Washington	Pac 12
19	Hooker, Destinee	Opp	6-4	San Antonio	TX	1987	Texas	Big 12

2012 Olympics Women's Volleyball Roster - China

#	Name	Pos.	Ht.	Age	Club
1	WANG Yimei	WS	6-3	24	Liaoning
2	MI Yang	S	5-11	23	Tianjin
4	HUI Ruoqi	WS	6-2	21	Jiangsu
6	CHU Jinling	WS	6-1	28	Liaoning
7	ZHANG Xian	L	5-6	27	Liaoning
8	WEI Quiyue	S	6-0	23	Tianjin
9	YANG Junjing	MB	6-3	23	Army
10	SHAN Danna	WS	5-6	20	Zhejiang
11	XU Yunli	MB	6-5	24	Fujian
12	ZENG Chunlei	OS	6-1	22	Beijing
15	MA Yunwen	MB	6-2	25	Shanghai
17	ZHANG Lei	OS	5-11	27	Shanghai

Cumulative Scoring - United States

#	Name	Position	Height	Matches	Srv	Spk	Blk	Pts
2	Scott-Arruda, Danielle	MB	6-2	2	0	8	3	11
3	Haneef-Park, Tayyiba	Opp	6-7	5	0	1	2	3
4	Berg, Lindsey	S	5-8	5	1	6	0	7
5	Miyashiro, Tamari	L	5-7	5	0	0	0	0
6	Davis, Nicole	L	5-4	5	0	0	0	0
10	Larson, Jordan	OH	6-2	5	2	45	4	51
11	Hodge, Megan	OH	6-3	2	0	19	0	19
13	Harmotto, Christa	MB	6-2	5	2	20	8	30
15	Tom, Logan	OH	6-1	5	2	40	6	48
16	Akinradewo, Foluke	MB	6-3	5	1	41	15	60
17	Thompson, Courtney	S	5-8	5	0	0	0	0
19	Hooker, Destinee	Opp	6-4	5	3	87	14	104