American Women to Play for Gold

Volleyball Team Dominates Cuba In the Semifinals

BEIJING, Aug. 21 -- With one last flying spike from Kim Willoughby of the United States, Cuba fell on Thursday. A shriek went up from the American bench, red-white-and-blue flags bobbed in the stands, and the 12 women who make up the U.S. women's volleyball team stormed the court at Capital Gymnasium, falling into a screaming, laughing circle of hugs that rolled on long after the Cubans left the floor in tears.

Little more than a week ago, Cuba destroyed the U.S. women in a match that lasted barely more than an hour. Rarely does Cuba -- winner of three straight Olympic gold medals from 1992 to 2000 -- lose a match that matters. Almost never does it lose to a team like the United States.

But there were the Cubans on Thursday, with a berth in the gold medal game on the line and the Americans pounding the ball, leaving them sprawled across the court, losers in three sets.

"We fought our hearts out," U.S. captain Lindsey Berg said.

Now the Americans will face Brazil for the gold medal, something a U.S. women's volleyball team has done only once, 24 years ago in Los Angeles. The U.S. team lost that year to China, whose roster included a player named "Jenny" Lang Ping, who is, of all things, the current U.S. coach.

So much has happened to the U.S. team here, even beyond the fact that its coach has returned to the city and arena where she played some of her most important matches. Thirteen days ago, as the players gathered for a strategy meeting five hours before their first game, they learned that Todd Bachman, the father of former player Elisabeth Bachman, and a beloved figure around the team, had been stabbed and killed across town at the Drum Tower. Devastated, they wept that night and then walked around in a daze for several days.

Then came the trampling by Cuba. And the U.S. women went back to the Athletes' Village unsure what to think about an Olympics suddenly gone terribly wrong. They sat in their rooms and replayed the game over and over, stunned at how badly they played.

"We looked horrible," Willoughby said. "We're not a team that loses sets 25-15."

Then something changed. The lack of cohesion that marked the Americans' first two matches disappeared, and they started to win, 3-2 over Italy, the second-ranked team in the world, and then 3-2 over China, which might be the best team here. Suddenly, there was Cuba again and by then a lot had changed.

"This is the USA's mentality," Willoughby said. "We hadn't beaten Italy in a long, long time so why not now? It's the Olympics. It's the most important time. Why not now? Then we said, 'We lost to Cuba in the preliminaries, so why not now?' Why not beat them today? We win when it counts."

Thursday's match wasn't even close. The Americans whipped through three sets like they were playing the worst team in a qualifier, winning 25-20, 25-16, 25-17. The final point in each set was driven home by Willoughby -- whom her teammates now call "The Closer" because Lang brings her in toward the end of each set for the purpose of slamming home the last few points.

"They were amazing," Cuba's Yaima Ortiz said. "They played almost perfect."

Some of the U.S. players are in contact with Elisabeth Bachman. Many write her name or old jersey number on their arms or legs to keep her close, to remind themselves of her father. What happened at the Drum Tower is never far away, even though Bachman left the country days ago and her mother, Barbara -- injured in the attack -- is in good condition at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Lang, who has kept a stoic public face through both the killing and her team's run through the Olympics, was characteristically reserved after the win, though she did pose for one happy post-match picture on Thursday, walking arm in arm with her assistant coaches.

"I can say it's unbelievable," she said of the fact her team is going to play for gold in a favorite old stadium of hers. "I am more happy for the players. They deserve for it. It's their dream. This is a great moment I would like to share with them."

In a place none of them could have ever imagined they would be.

"Why settle for silver when you can have gold?" Willoughby asked. "I like gold."