Press release

Ningbo, China, June 30, 2012 – World No. 1 the United States marched towards their third straight World Grand Prix title as they swept Cuba 3-0 here Saturday afternoon for their fourth win in a row at the 2012 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix Finals.

Megan Hodge and Kristin Richards each contributed 17 points in the Americans’ 13^th consecutive victory in this year’s World Grand Prix connecting the preliminaries and the six-team final round. They will face the host China in the last round of round robin play Sunday evening.

Beijing Olympic champions Brazil also clinched a straight-sets win over Thailand to improve to a 3-1 win-loss record while the Thais slipped to 1-3.

In the last match of the day, World Grand Prix debutants Turkey rallied past China 3-1 for their third victory in four matches.

After four rounds of round robin play, the United States led the standings with 11 points and Brazil currently ranked second at 10, followed by Turkey (9), China (4), Thailand (2) and Cuba (0).

For full match reports, press conference quotes, statistics and photos visit http://www.fivb.org/EN/volleyball/competitions/WorldGrandPrix/2012/LiveScore.asp

Top Scoring Performances
30 – Sittirak Onuma of Thailand v China (June 29)

28 – Megan Hodge of USA v Turkey (June 29)

27 – Darnel Neslihan of Turkey v Thailand (June 27)

Top Blocking Performances
7 – Christa Harmotto of USA v Turkey (June 29)

7 – Heather Bown of USA v Brazil (June 27)
7 – Fabiana Claudino of Brazil v USA (June 27)
7 – Menezes Thaisa of Brazil v China (June 28)

Top Blocking Performances by team
18 – USA v Brazil (June 27)
17 – Brazil v China (June 28)
17 – China v Thailand (June 29)

Top Serving Performance
5 – Silva Adenizia of Brazil v Cuba (June 29)

4 – Tomkom Nootsara of Thailand v Turkey (June 27)
4 – Toksoy Bahar of Turkey v Thailand (June 27)
4 – Darnel Neslihan of Turkey v Cuba (June 28)

4 – Thinkaow Pleumjit of Thailand v China (June 29)

Top Serving Performances by team
13 – Thailand against Turkey (June 27)
12 – Brazil against Cuba (June 29)

11 – Turkey against Cuba (June 28)

Highest scorer by week
Week 1: Hwang Youn-Joo/Rosanna Giel Ramos, 25 (Cuba v Korea)
Week 2: Serena Ortolani, 25 (Italy v Brazil)
Week 3: Serena Ortolani, 29 (Italy v Poland)
Finals: Sittirak Onuma, 30 (Thailand v China)
 
Highest set score
Week 1: Italy v Poland (31-29)
Week 2: China v Poland (29-27)
Week 3: Brazil v Cuba, Cuba v China (29-31)
Finals: China v Thailand (32-34)
  
Highest Scoring matches
Week 1: China v Cuba, 3-2 (29-31, 25-18, 25-19, 24-26, 15-8), 220 points
Week 2: Puerto Rico v Dominican Republic, 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-12), 211 points
Week 3: Brazil v Cuba, 3-2 (29-31, 25-18, 25-19, 26-24, 15-8), 220 points
Finals: China v Thailand, 2-3 (25-21, 22-25, 32-34, 25-21, 13-15), 233 points

Top scorers