U.S. volleyball girls pound Cuba in emotional win

Erica Bulman, Associated Press, Bremen, Germany

Choked up but inspired on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the undefeated Americans soared to a 3-0 victory over reigning champion Cuba in an emotionally-charged match Wednesday to secure a place in the semifinals of the women's Volleyball World Championship.

Observing a minute of silence and wearing black ribbons to commemorate the tragedy, the determined American side overcame Cuba 25-22, 25-15, 25-21.

"We didn't watch too much TV today. It was on all the channels. It was so sad and scary," American team captain Tara Cross-Battle said. "It got to us. But it also inspired us. It gave us extra fighting spirit.

"We wanted to show everybody we have fighting spirit."

In Stuttgart, China edged Olympic bronze medalist Brazil in a five-set thriller to book its place in the next round.

Earlier, Italy reached the semifinals of the tournament with a straight sets win over South Korea, while favorite Russia also advanced, steamrolling over Bulgaria 3-0.

Clearly moved by the moment of silence, with several players wiping their eyes, the emotional Americans got off to a shaky start, making several serving errors.

But the tightly-bound team quickly regrouped to steadily forge ahead 14-10. Sixteen-year-old Cuban Nancy Carillo helped her side make up lost ground with her strong serves but the Caribbean side was still unable to overtake the driven Americans, who sealed the set with a three-point advantage.

The two teams were neck-and-neck for the first half of the second set. But at 8-7, with Danielle Scott and Prikeba Phipps in top form, the American block proved too formidable for the Cubans.

The United States began to pull away, and put the set out of reach after scoring four straight points to go 16-10.

The Cubans got off to a bad start in the third set, falling behind 3-1. Though the Caribbean side was able to stay in the game until 7-8, the experience and unbeatable block of the Americans proved too much, with the United States closing out the win with a thundering smash by Tayyiba Haneef.

The United States faces Russia in Friday's semifinals in Berlin, while China meets Italy.

Cuba, Brazil, Bulgaria and South Korea will stay in Bremen to fight out places five to eight.

With a blistering attack and solid block, Italy never allowed South Korea to get in the game, defeating the Asian side 25-20, 25-22, 25-19 in 73 minutes in Stuttgart.

The Koreans were unable to muster their usual quick attacks and failed to find an answer to the powerful Italian block.

Appearing jittery at first, Italy slipped began slowly, slipping behind 5-1 in the opening set, as spiker Elisa Togut struggled against the Korean block.

But the Italians finally found their rhythm and pulled ahead for the first time to eventually lead 11-8 then 16-13, as Togut's and Simona Rinieri's attacks became increasingly effective. The Italians had no difficulty making it 1-0.

The Italians easily cruised past the floundering Asians to a 7-0 lead in the second, as the Koreans struggled to find a chink in the Italian side's well-organized defense. Although the Asian side was able to catch up to 21-22, due to a series of mistakes by the Squadra Azzuri, the European silver medalist, however, held their nerve to clinch the set.

Italy began the final set highly focused, quickly jumping to a 13-6 advantage. Despite several substitutions, the Koreans were unable to get back into the match, continuously overwhelmed by Italy's strong attacks.

In Bremen, Russia defeated Bulgaria 25-13, 25-21, 25-19 in an hour.

Both began their match tentatively, though the Russians soon gained confidence and began to pull ahead at 10-6. The side then increased its lead to 23-11 on the strength of Elena Plotnikova's strong service, putting the set out of reach.

Bulgaria briefly took the lead in the second, jumping ahead 3- 1, then 8-5. But the European Championship bronze medalist ran out of steam, surrendering the lead to drop behind 13-8, as Plotnikova continued to wreak havoc with her service.

The Russians continued on the same track to easily close out the set.

The European champion steamed ahead 4-0 in the third set and maintained a five-point lead for much of the remainder of the match despite an unusually high rate of mistakes.