United States Women Conclude Pool O Undefeated

COLORADO SPRINGS, United States, May 17, 2014 – The heavily favored United States swept Honduras 25-12, 25-13, 25-16 Saturday afternoon to conclude the Women’s NORCECA World Championship Qualification Tournament Pool O with a 3-0 record at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Kylin Munoz led a quartet of United States in double-figure scoring with 16 points. Maddie Martin and Katie Slay added 11 points each, while Kathleen Luft contributed 10 points. Honduras was paced by Lesby Midence with four points.

Honduras had few answers for the U.S. attack as the second-ranked team in the world held a 42-12 advantage in kills. The U.S. also had a 7-3 margin in blocks and a 6-3 edge in aces.

The United States, ranked second in the world, will face Panama (2-1) in the title match on Sunday at 3 p.m. MT. The winner advances to the FIVB World Championship, which begins in September in Italy. The runner-up will move on to a final NORCECA qualifier round held June 2-9 of all third-round qualifiers second-place teams.

United States Head Coach David Hunt: “We’re playing Panama in the final. Panama’s a good team. We have a lot of respect for Panama. I think they’re big and physical, probably the most physical team we’ve faced in the tournament. We’ve got to be ready. “

USA Captain Kelly Reeves: “This match was mentally tough. You’ve got to stay disciplined and play our game of USA Volleyball. We’re excited for tomorrow. We’re going to rest up tonight and go back at it tomorrow.”

Honduras Head Coach Marcos Tejada: "I think today we played our best match of the tournament. We were able to improve in the areas we were lacking in earlier. We respect the USA team, but I thought we played a very good game today. We served well, spiked well and played a complete match. This is a big step for Honduras."

Honduras Captain Estela Duron: "We overcame the obstacles we have had earlier in this tournament against a big USA team. I thought we played a good match considering how big the USA team is. We knew it was going to be a difficult match, but we were able to stay focused and we had fun, also."