As emotional as they always are, the American women celebrated their historic return to the Olympic final in 24 years on Thursday afternoon with big smiles on the tearful faces.
No wonder they were unable to control the emotions, as the last time the United States contented for an Olympic gold was in 1984, where they surrendered the championship at the home court of Los Angeles to China, just led by their current head coach "Iron Hammer" Lang Ping.
It only took the Americans 67 minutes to accomplish their sweet revenge 25-20, 25-16 and 25-17 for a straight-set loss to Cuba in the preliminaries. The American opposite Tayyiba Haneef-Park led all players with 12 points.
"I am happy for myself, but I'm happier for the players. They deserve it. They've worked hard for three or four years and cooperated well," said Lang, who was described by U.S. player Logan Tom as "squeaking like a little girl" after the surprising 3-0 win.
"When we played Cuba, we lost in straight sets, but we never won in straight sets. But today when I was sitting on bench, I didn't have any worries - especially the older players, they did a fantastic job," said Lang.
Kim Willoughby, Lang's "great substitution" who scored decisive points with high-jump spikes in the match, attributed the win to the "unity" of the team.
"We watched videos of the first match (against Cuba) and we said 'Hey, how can we played in such a flat way.' So, today, we came back and we played as team, as one," she said.
Just steps away from the ecstatic American team, misty eyes could also be seen on the stern faces of Cuban players.
Four-time Olympian Yumilka Ruiz hid her sorrows behind a white towel, while wing spiker Nancy Carrillo scrunched up her face and rubbed her hand over the eyes.
"America played well. Our two main problems were service and service reception. In the preliminaries Cuba was better at service and service reception, but in the second game, America was better," said the Cuban head coach Antonio Perdomo. "If we played tomorrow, I wouldn't be able to predict a winner, because the two teams are equal."
The two sides both started strongly at the opener before a 11-11 draw, when the U.S. broke the tie with lethal spikes by Tayyiba Haneef-Park to lead 14-11. Danielle Scott-Arruda and Heather Bown helped to enlarge the gap to 24-20. With an unanswered spike of Willoughby, the U.S. took the set 25-20.
The Americans dominated the second set with powerful serves, while Cuba lost their rhythm and their service errors at the crucial points helped the U.S. to take the effortless second set 25-16.
The U.S. sailed on the track to win with a solid lead 21-16 in the decider. Cuba pulled back one point with a spike of Yanelis Stantos, but that was the furthest they could go. Stunning Willoughby scored three points in row for the U.S. to seal the victory 25-17.
After the match, the U.S. will face either defending champions China or world's No. 1 Brazil in the final scheduled on Saturday. Their best record was a silver medal at the Los Angeles in 1984.
While, Cuba, who won gold medal at the Games in 1992, 1996 and 2000, are seeking for a fourth medal in a bronze match also on Saturday.
The U.S. toppled the host in a five-set thriller in the preliminaries and now they showed more confidence for their first-ever Olympic gold.
"Our goal all along the four years is to do what we didn't do in Athens, to get the gold medal, tomorrow a new day of practice and we will come out here to give what we can," said Tayyiba Haneef-Park.
(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2008)
