In perhaps their toughest Olympic task so far, USA Volleyball took down Brazil 3-2 in this morning’s back-and-forth semifinal to advance to Sunday’s gold medal match.
The win guarantees the US a seventh Olympic podium finish and the chance to repeat their Tokyo gold medal win — a feat they accomplished by beating Brazil back in 2021.
A volleyball rivalry with Olympic history
The longtime rival nations have met on the Olympic court many times, including five medal contests over the last eight Olympics.
In those five matches, Brazil walked away with three medals (two gold, one bronze), while Team USA notched one gold and one bronze in two wins.
Team USA ends Brazil’s Olympic gold medal hopes
While there wasn’t a medal on the line in this morning’s five-set thriller, the teams definitely played like there was. The US struck first, taking the first set before trading the next three with Brazil, who forced the deciding fifth set largely off the outstanding play of star Gabi Guimarães.
But the States shifted into gear in the fifth, downing Brazil 15-11 off a Kathryn Plummer kill to clinch a spot in Sunday’s final.
Plummer led the US with 26 points, while fellow outside hitter Avery Skinner and opposite Annie Drews contributed an impressive 19 and 18, respectively.
What’s next for USA Volleyball
Today’s win might have been the USA’s toughest challenge on their path to back-to-back gold, but to complete the job, they’ll have to take down the winner of today’s Turkey-Italy semifinal.
The volleyball gold medal match will kick off on Sunday at 7 AM ET, with live coverage across NBC networks.
USA Beach Volleyball loses Olympic medal bid
Over on the sand, Team USA’s last hope for a beach volleyball medal vanished in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round, making this the first Summer Olympics without a US team on the podium since 2000.
Last-standing US pair Kelly Cheng and Sara Hughes fell in straight sets to Switzerland’s Nina Brunner and Tanja Hüberli, just one day after fellow US duo Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth fell in the round of 16.
It’s a disappointing finish for a national contingent that’s claimed four of the previous five gold medals — most recently by Alix Klineman and April Ross’s Tokyo A-Team.