United States overcame a sluggish start to rally past Thailand 21-25, 25-19, 25-11 and 25-13 here on Saturday for its seventh win in a row at the women's volleyball World Cup.
It seemed that the Americans would take an easy win as they raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening set. But after Robyn Ah Mow-Santos sent her fifth serve of the day long, the Thais started to show what they are capable of, beginning with an ace from OnumaSittirak. Sittirak followed a first-time spike by Amporn Hyapha with a stunning flying kill and the two sides were level at 4-4.
Just as head coach Lang Ping had said the day before, it was difficult for the United States to adjust to the quick combination of the Thais, but the Americans struggled to stay within 20-19.
However, Apinyapong Wilavan drove a ball out of bounds and Hyapha Amporn added an ace to enlarge the lead to 22-19 before Tayyiba Haneef-Park served long to hand the Thais the set.
"It is the first Asian team we played in this tournament, and I am not so surprised," said Lang Ping at the press conference after the match. "Last year we played Thailand and won 3-1, and it was really a tight game."
The Thais went on to take the edge early in the second set, racing to a 13-8 lead and improved to 15-9, but the United States roared back with five straight points on back of excellent services by Danielle Scott-Arruda to cut it to 15-14.
Thailand managed to hold the lead to 18-17, only to see the Americans close the set with a 9-1 run.
"I just told my players to concentrate on our side, not to follow their speed," Lang Ping said. "From the end of the second set, we finally found our rhythm."
The Thais went down tamely in the last two sets.
"I have no doubt that the United States will go to the Olympics," said Thailand head coach Srisamutnak Nataphon.
"In the first set, their serving did not work, so we could counter back. But from the second set, they had better serving, and we struggled with receiving," he added.
Haneef-Park led five Americans in double digits with 17 points and the United States reaped 20 points from blocking, compared with four of the lowly Thais.
Earlier in Sapporo, Serbia beat Peru 25-15, 25-15 and 25-23 to improve to a 6-1 record.
Source: Xinhua
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