Women's Volleyball Day 7 Preview: China face Brazil in semifinal

  2008-08-21 02:13:46 GMT    2008-08-21 10:13:46 (Beijing Time)    BOCOG

  (BEIJING, August 20) -- Defending Olympic Champions China play Brazil in the Women's Volleyball semifinal at the Capital Gymnasium on Thursday, August 21, while Cuba plays the United States.

  The first semifinal match will be between Cuba and the United States, who play Cuba for the second time in the competition, after a 3-0 loss to the three-time Olympic champions in the preliminaries. The US team failed to match Cuba's offense but had surprise wins against top teams China and Italy 3-2 each.

  Yumilka Ruiz and Nancy Carrillo make the Cuban attack almost unstoppable, but their comparatively weaker reception along with recent ball handling errors will dampen their chances against powerful outside hitters Logan Tom and Tayyiba Haneef-Park from the United States. Fourth-time Olympian Danielle Scott-Arruda is the backbone of the US team's defense.

  China and Brazil play each other for the first time in the tournament in Thursday's semifinal.

  Brazil entered the quarterfinals as the leaders of pool B. China will be hard pressed to beat World No. 1 Brazil, who have not lost a set in the tournament.

  The Brazilian players are all-rounders on the court, giving them additional attacking options and an extra edge other teams lack.

  China are one of the strongest teams of the competition, despite suffering two 3-2 losses to Cuba and the United States in the preliminaries. In their quarterfinal against Russia, China were rescued by outstanding performances from wing-spikers Wang Yimei and Zhou Suhong.

  Sheilla Castro and Marianne Steinbrecher of Brazil are the force behind Brazil's fast and potent attack.