Cuba vs China

[BeiBei]

Cuba just won the first set and is leading in the second. It would be crazy if Cuba wins this.
Ruiz seems to be out of her slump and is playing well right now

[Macquarie]

Oh my god, volleyball is crazy. It's truely nail biting stuff. I have never watched it on TV before, but after having five straight days of it I am loving it! Everytime I turn on the TV it seems to be on.

Currently in the 2nd game it's 20-18 to China.

I swear the Cuban coach at times looks like his going to jump on the court and start playing. There looks like there's a decent crowd there too- very loud.

[rayb_14]

China leading the match with Feng on the bench for most of the match, she's probably just resting or something?

Carrillo reminds me a lot of a young Regla Torres. not so much in the way she plays but just in her demeanor on the court. kinda quite, kinda stoic, but when you set her - KABOOM!

[BeiBei]

China came back in the second and swept thru the third just when I thought they will steamrolled Cuba. They are now playing the 5th game with Cuba leading 9-5!!! .

third straight five setter for Cuba

[rayb_14]

the rematch of the '96 final ends the same way, Cuba wins - this time in 5. 15-13 in the fifth.

[BeiBei]

Barros had 7 aces. Her serve is like Aguero, very fast and powerful. This is particularly impressive considering that China is a very good at passing.

3 five setters for the Cubans, all decided by 2 points. the Cubans love to live on the edge

[BeiBei]

Will be watching this match on a delayed telecast in a few hours. Initially I did not want to check on the live score so that I can pretend to watch the match Live. But I thought that China will steamrolled Cuba so I ended up checking the live score. Look forward to watch the match should be a good one

[Deleted]

Now this was some volleyball. I just wish more people, in the US, could be exposed to it.

Beach schmeach.

[sistahsledge]

Bravo! channel showed the entire match, start to finish. I wish that NBC would just abandon their hatchet jobs on the USA matches and put them all on Bravo or MSNBC in their entirety. This was a world-class battle, worthy of a championship final. Great contrast in styles: the veteran, precision, discipline of the Chinese vs. the youth, passion, athleticism of the Cubans. And both teams played with a lot of heart.

Although I miss the fireworks of Luis/Carvajal/Torres, this new crew looks like an exciting new generation of big bangers. If they can steady out and cut down on the mental lapses, they might start another dynasty. I hope the USA brings their "A" game because they're going to need it.

China is such a pleasure to watch for the volleyball purist. They did break down a few times in the fifth game, though, and that's all Cuba needed to overpower them in the end. Anyone know why the all-world setter, Kun Feng Shui, got benched? She didn't seem to be playing too badly. However, there isn't much drop-off between her and the back-up.

This pool is really turning into a dogfight (bitchfight?). USA still has a good opportunity if they buck up and play up to their #1 billing.

[Deleted]

sistahsledge said:

Bravo! channel showed the entire match, start to finish. I wish that NBC would just abandon their hatchet jobs on the USA matches and put them all on Bravo or MSNBC in their entirety.

Amen!

[sIsam]

sistahsledge said:

This pool is really turning into a dogfight (bitchfight?). USA still has a good opportunity if they buck up and play up to their #1 billing.

This pool is a total mess. It looks to me like RUS vs GER and RUS vs USA will determine the last spot for the group (as well as USA's other match). If both GER and RUS perform, Team USA might even be in danger of not getting out of the group let alone get a high enough rank to avoid ITA or BRA in QF (this looks highly unlikely as it is...)

Team USA really needs to get it together and get two convincing wins vs RUS and CUB (since it might come down to sets eventually).