PARIS, France — Defending Olympic champions, Team USA, took on the reigning world champions, Serbia, in the Women's volleyball pool play yesterday and the game was thrilling.
The U.S. eeked out a win in the final set thanks in no small part to North Texas' own Chiaka Ogbogu. The Coppell-native delivered two state championships for Coppell High School before playing at the University of Texas. In Paris, she's proving to be a difference-maker in key moments for the U.S. women's volleyball team.
The U.S. is currently ranked fifth in the world. The team got its first gold medal at the Tokyo games in 2020.
In Tuesday's game against Serbia, Ogbogu got eight of the team's 19 blocks in the match and earned the team 14 points with six kills, according to USA Volleyball. The U.S. won the first two sets before Serbia came back to win two sets evening the match 2-2. In the final fifth set, the U.S. and Serbia battled hard, with the U.S. finally getting the win off a Serbian error.
The win against Serbia means the team will likely advance to the quarterfinals, with a chance to clinch against France in a match scheduled for 6 a.m. CT on Aug. 4.
“We knew this was going to be an intense match. Serbia is always a strong opponent. We knew they were going to push back, and they did,” Middle blocker Haleigh Washington stated after the match.
In an earlier Olympic match against China, the U.S. fell 3-2 but Ogbogu had a great game, scoring 13 points with nine kills and recording four blocks.
If the U.S. makes it out of pool play, the quarterfinal matches will take place Aug. 6.
