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Show eeeeee .ee eS Ci8- Sunday, September 24, 2000 ‘TheSalt Lake Tribune | BethA. Keiser/TheAssociated Press USA's Logan Tom,of Salt LakeCity, fires a strike past the handsof Croatian defenders. Tom’s Spark Not Enoughfor U.S. BY LEX HEMPHILL ‘THE AL! AKE TRIBUNE YDNEY, Australia Brazil tooka littleair out of the U.S. women's volleyball balloon today (Saturday MDT). In thefinal matchofpreliminary play between two undefeated teams, the Br s, bronze medalists at the Atlanta Olympics, Americansin foursets, dusted the 25-17, 20-25, 25-15, 25-15. The U.S. team, led again byteen-age phenom Logan TomofSalt LakeCity, appearedcapable of forcing a competitive match after the second set, but it couldn’t meet Brazil's intensity over thefinal two sets and succumbed meeklyat the end, surrendering the last eight points. Theresult leaves Braz atopthefinal Pool A standings with a 5-0record, with the United States secondat 4-1. The Americans will have to play the third-place team from Pool B, which almost certainly will be South Korea, in the quarterfinals Tuesday. If they win, they areseededto play the Pool B champion, Russia, in the semifinals. Tom, the 19-year-old Highland High School product who has id emerged as a powerful force for the United States, was at Nuccio Dinuzzo’ Chicago Tribune Above: Croatia'sBiljana Gligorovic (10) jumps to defend a shotfrom the Tom, whostands 6-foot-1 Right: Tom looksto block a spike during the U.S.-Australia volleyball match at the Sydney Entertainment Center herbest in the secondset, when she wasblasting onekill after another, lifting her teamto 24-15 lead After the Brazilians scoredfive straight points to make things interesting, Tombelted a final winner to Brazil withits only losing set of the tournament so far ‘Tom wound up with a team-high 15 kills, but like the rest of her teammates, she seemedto flatten out in the third andfourthsets as Brazil blocked w the net and got solid attacking from Virna Diaz, Erika Coimbra and Leila Barros. “We weremissing more of our shots,” Tomsaid. “They had a block up, but we could have put someballs away that we either hit out or we got blocked.” Charlene Tagaloa, the former BYU All-Afnerican who played sparinglyin today’s loss, said her team was “quite iB é Steve Griffin/TheSalt Lake Tribune Tom preparesto pass the ball during the USA-Croatia match earlier this week. timid” against Brazil and seemedto experience a letdown inthethird andfourth games. Whilethe U.S. womenweren't ableto keep upwith the Brazilians, coach Mick Haley was not disturbed by the result “Wegot out of this about what we wanted out ofit 3 eve always known it's the 26th [the quarHay} that’s the most important deal, and that’s what we're focused on. . If we play Brazil for a medal, we'll be very, very competitive.” So too,it appears, will the Brazilians. |
