U.S. Falls to Brazil in Pan Am Cup

MIAMI, Fla. (July 3, 2009) ? In a rematch of the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal match, Brazil handed the United States its first loss of the Pan American Cup, defeating the U.S., 22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-14, Friday evening in Miami.

Once again, the Husker duo of Nancy Metcalf and Jordan Larson led the U.S. Metcalf topped Team USA for the second time in the tournament with 19 points on 16 kills, two blocks and an ace, while Larson was second the squad with 12 points.

Brazil, the top-ranked team in the FIVB world ranking, will face Dominican Republic in the Pan American Cup final set for 5 p.m. (central) on July 4. Meanwhile, the reigning Olympic silver medalist American team will have a rematch against Puerto Rico for third place at 2:30 p.m.

"Both teams played well and there were some good rallies," Brazil Head Coach J. Roberto Guimaraes said. "In the third and fourth sets in particular, we had good sequences in blocking and serving that was the difference."

"Congratulations to Brazil," U.S. Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon said. "Our team gave good effort, but we just did not have a consistent execution for the whole match. While I am not happy with losing, there are some things that we can take from this match and learn from."