U.S. women’s volleyball team loses to Italy

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The U.S. women’s volleyball team dropped a 25-17, 26-28, 25-19, 25-19 match to second-ranked Italy today during the round robin FIVB World Grand Prix final in Yokohama, Japan.

Italy bolted to an 8-3 lead in the first set and went on to dominate the match. The bright spot for the Americans, who are ranked fourth in the world and now have a 1-3 record in this round, came in the second set. The U.S. won that set after Danielle Scott-Arruda of Baton Rouge, La., came off the bench to score five points.

Nine U.S. errors in the third set allowed Italy to take over again.

Play concludes on July 13 against Olympics host China on Sunday morning (tonight here in L.A.)

In the match against Italy, Foluke Akinradewo of Plantation, Fla., and Ogonna Nnamani of Bloomington, Ill., tied for the U.S. point lead with 18. Logan Tom of Salt Lake City produced 12 points with 11 kills and an ace. Scott-Arruda finished the match with nine points on seven kills. Lindsey Berg of Honolulu charted three blocks and 31 assists, while Long Beach’s Cynthia Barboza had three kills.

Yorba Linda’s Heather Bown rounded out the scoring with a kill while Tayyiba Haneef-Park of Laguna Hills made a brief appearance in the second set. Team leader Joan Powell gives a detailed account of the game on her blog.

-- Debbie Goffa