Stalls, Team USA Sweep Costa Rica

Colima, Mexico ? Tracy Stalls’ 11 points led the U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team to an impressive 3-0 sweep of Costa Rica 25-14, 25-15, 25-13 Friday afternoon at the Pan American Cup.

Stalls totaled six kills on .455 hitting, three blocks and a pair of aces to pace a balanced attack, upping Team USA’s record to 2-0 in Pool A. Stalls has reached double figures in points in both of Team USA’s matches this week. Cynthia Barboza joined Stalls in double figures with 10 points, including five kills, four aces and a block.

Team USA will challenge 2006 nemesis Dominican Republic tomorrow at 4 p.m. CDT. Last year, Dominican Republic won two of three contests against the U.S., including a three-set victory in the bronze medal match of the 2006 Pan American Cup.

The U.S. started captain Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (Honolulu) at setter, Stalls and Jen Joines (Milpitas, Calif.) at middle blocker, Katie Wilkins (Lakeside, Calif.) and Barboza (Long Beach, Calif.) at outside hitter, and Cassie Bussie (Prior Lake, Minn.) at opposite. Candace Lee (Eugene, Ore.) is Team USA’s designated libero for the tournament. Marcie Hampton (Gainesville, Fla.) entered the contest in the second set and started the third set. Both Lindsey Hunter (Papillion, Neb.) and Katie Olsovsky (Hermosa Beach, Calif.) subbed into the third set.

In addition of the efforts of Stalls and Barboza, Joines contributed eight points with five kills on six attacks and three blocks. Wilkins added seven points on three kills, two blocks and two aces. Hampton charted six points in a reserve role with five kills on 10 swings and a block. Busse gained a half-dozen points on five kills and a block, while Olsovsky hit .500 with two kills on four attacks in the third set. Hunter came off the bench to add a kill on her only attack. Lee tallied four digs on 12 chances, while accepting 18 of Team USA’s 38 service receptions.

"We wanted to concentrate on our side of the net, especially serving and passing," United States coach Lang Ping said. "We had trouble yesterday, but we adjusted today. We need to play better with each match we play."

Ah Mow-Santos, who provided 20 assists to lead the U.S. to a .294 team attack percentage, echoed her coach’s thoughts on the progress of the team against Costa Rica.

"Yesterday, we had a lot of errors serving and passing," Ah Mow-Santos said. "So today we were trying to focus on our side of the net and limiting errors and increasing our intensity."

Team USA held an 11-4 advantage in blocks, while winning the service portion of the match as well. The U.S. scored eight points off aces and limited Costa Rica to just one ace. The Americans held a significant 15-4 advantage in digs to allow for second-chance points.

The U.S. open the match with a 3-0 advantage, only to see Costa Rica rebound and tie the score at 5-all. Team USA responded with six unanswered on the serve of Katie Wilkins and two points from Stalls. The American lead reached double-digits at 18-8 as Barboza created two points on a kill and ace during a 4-0 run. Wilkins scored consecutive points on a kill and ace at 23-12 en route to finishing the set at 25-14.

Costa Rica held its first lead of a set at 2-1 early in the second set, but the advantage was short-lived as the U.S. surged to a 3-2 advantage. After trading points through an 8-all tie, Team USA embarked on a 6-1 run as Stalls provided three kills and a block to give the Americans a 14-9 lead. Costa Rica broke the spurt with two quick points to narrow the deficit to 14-11. The U.S. squelched any possibility of a comeback with nine unanswered points with three scores coming off the hands of Hampton for a commanding 23-11 lead.

Team USA continued its impressive scoring runs with the first seven points of the third set as Barboza nailed three aces in the spurt. Costa Rica would not get closer than six points the rest of the set as Barboza closed out the period with a kill and block at 25-13.

Verania Willis paced Costa Rica with eight points on six kills and two blocks, while Karen Cope Charles chipped in six kills. Angela Willis charted five points with four kills and her team’s only ace.