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

Morning Report

We don’t know if this qualifies as a trap-match — with only three more victories separating the United States Women’s team from its first-ever Olympic Gold Medal, it’s hard to see them looking past this afternoon’s match (2:00 p.m. EST) against the Dominican Republic — but with the uncertain status of Lindsey Berg following her injury on Sunday, there certainly is a bit of added drama.  Read on. 

US women’s volleyball preps for Dominican Republic (Yahoo Sports)

LONDON (AP) — The U.S. women’s volleyball team takes an unblemished Olympic record into its quarterfinal match against the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, but it could be without an experienced key player because of an ankle injury.  The top-ranked Americans emerged from their preliminary-round matches at Earls Court in London as the top seed after winning all five matches.  The knockout rounds are next, and U.S. captain Lindsey Berg’s status is uncertain. She injured her left ankle during a sweep of Turkey Sunday. The starting setter is a three-time Olympian has been a mainstay on the national team since 2003.

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Preview of U.S. Women versus Dominican Republic (Bill Kaufman, www.teamusa.org)

LONDON (Aug. 6, 2012) – The U.S. Olympic Women’s Volleyball Team, in search of its first-ever Olympic Games gold medal, ended the preliminary round of the 2012 Olympic Games with an undefeated record and will now meet a familiar foe in NORCECA rival Dominican Republic during the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 7 p.m. local time (11 a.m. PT).  Team USA, ranked No. 1 in the world with a 28-1 record in 2012, ended Pool B with 15 points and a 5-0 record earning the right to face Pool A’s fourth-place team in the quarterfinal. Dominican Republic finished Pool A with a 2-3 record and in fourth place, but remains a dangerous foe.  “They’re going to be coming to get us,” Team USA captain Lindsey Berg (Honolulu) offered on Dominican Republic. “They are emotional, aggressive and physical. We’re going to have to serve tough and keep the ball away from their libero (Brenda Castillo).”

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Women’s quarters include U.S.-Dominican Rep. (www.nbcolympics.com)

The U.S. women’s volleyball team is three wins away from making history.  Team USA opens up the single-elimination tournament Tuesday against the  Dominican Republic  in quarterfinal play, needing three wins to win the country’s first-ever Olympic women’s indoor volleyball gold medal. The Americans were the only women to have won all five of their preliminary-round matches in fewer than five sets, earning a full complement of 15 points in group stage.  Russia, who won Group A, went 5-0 but needed a five-set win over  Italy to clinch the top spot Sunday.