Press release

London, Great Britain, August 5, 2012 – World No. 1 United States completed a perfect tour around the preliminary round of the Olympic women’s volleyball tournament by defeating Turkey in straight sets (27-25, 25-16, 25-19) to finish atop of Pool B with a 5-0 win-loss record on Sunday.

The winners held an 11-6 margin in the blocking category and committed only nine unforced errors for the whole match to 18 by the Turkish team.

Destinee Hooker once again was the top scorer for the American side with 19 points while Foluke Akinradewo contributed 15, including a match-high five blocks. Jordan Larson and Christa Harmotto chipped in with 9 apiece to the victory.

Neriman Ozsoy and Neslihan Darnel had 14 and 11 points for Turkey while Busra Cansu notched nine.

Turkey started strongly with Neslihan Darnel and Neriman Ozsoy attacking well. Turkey were leading 10-5 before USA coach Hugh McCutcheon called his first timeout.
 
Turkey's lead was as much as seven points in the first set before USA came back to level the scores at 16-16. Turkey had a set point at 24-23 and again at 25-24, but USA held on and finally won the set 27-25.
 
USA pulled away from Turkey in the middle of the second set as BERG provided for hitters Destinee Hooker, Foluke Akinradewo and Christa Harmotto. Turkey then started to make errors and the USA easily won the set 25-16.
 
The third set's biggest drama came in the early stages when USA captain and setter BERG left the court with an injury. Berg spent the remainder of the match on the sidelines with a bag of ice strapped to her left ankle. USA went on to win the set 25-19.
 
USA finished the pool stages undefeated and will play Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals. If Turkey are to make the quarterfinals, they need Serbia to beat Brazil in the final match of women's preliminary rounds on Sunday.