Suburban native and two-time Olympic volleyballer Kelsey Robinson Cook discusses the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, NBC Chicago’s Alex Maragos reports.
After losing their first game of pool play this week against China, the United States’ women’s volleyball team came dangerously close to losing a second straight game against Serbia, which would’ve put their hopes of defending their gold medal on dangerous ground.
Fortunately for the American squad, they were able to fend off the furious comeback attempt by Serbia and won the match in five sets, finally converting on match point to win the fifth set 17-15.
Here's how the action unfolded:
It was a great start for the American squad after they won the first two sets 25-17 and 25-20, but things quickly went south as Serbia captured the third and fourth sets to knot things up.
The US appeared to be on the verge of victory multiple times in that fifth set, earning match point on five different occasions. On the first four, they couldn’t get the job done, but on the fifth, they were finally successful as a Serbian spike attempt flew past the end line, giving the United States a key win that pushed them back into fifth in the combined rankings.
Now, a win against France would give the U.S. a spot in the quarterfinals, as well as a chance to defend their gold medal beginning next week.
That game against France will take place on Sunday, with the quarterfinals set to get underway on Tuesday in Paris.
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