TOKYO -Â The U.S. Women's Volleyball Team will play for the gold medal on Sunday after beating Serbia decisively on Thursday, 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-23) at the Olympic Games. The U.S. Women (6-1) will play Brazil (7-0) in the gold medal match scheduled for 11:30 p.m. CT on Saturday. Korea and Serbia will play for bronze.
Illinois volleyball alums Jordyn Poulter and Michelle Bartsch-Hackley have been instrumental on the court for Team USA, with the third former Illini on the team, assistant coach Erin Virtue, serving as another key component to the success of the United States. Â
It will be the fourth straight Olympic Games that will see the U.S. Women playing for a medal and the third time since 2008 that they will play for gold. Overall, the team has won three silver medals (1992, 2008 and 2012) and two bronze (1984 and 2016).
"(The veterans) didn't even need to talk about it. I think so many of us watched that match," setter Jordyn Poulter said. "I am sure there was a chip on their shoulders. All of us who play for the USA have been chasing history for so long."
Poulter set the team to a .333 hitting efficiency and scored two points on two blocks, with Michelle Bartsch-Hackley finishing with nine points on seven kills and two blocks, while adding eight digs and five successful receptions.
Poulter, who played in her first match since rolling her right ankle in the team's final pool play match against Italy, added, "it shows what kind of support staff we have available to us as USA players. The resources we have, whether it's other PTs or our own PT Kara Kessens, put so much effort into making us feel good and making us feel healthy. It's amazing the knowledge and the resources we have access to. I am just so grateful for all the people who aren't physically on the court who make this whole engine run."
