This year, at the 2016 Summer Olympics, 36 past, current and future UCLA athletes will compete in Rio de Janeiro. Each day, the Daily Bruin will wrap up the different events with Bruin highlights, key performances and upcoming events.
Women’s water polo
China vs. USA
Not much has changed since 2012.
At least that’s what it seems like for Team USA, who registered another dominating win Thursday, beating China 12-4.
The Americans utilized a similar strategy as they did in Tuesday’s 11-4 drubbing of Spain: Take a quick lead, and play lockdown defense.
For the second straight match, Team USA scored first. This time it was Stanford alumna Maggie Steffens that gave the Americans the lead just 28 seconds into the game. The former Cardinal added three more goals in the contest, giving her a team-high six goals thus far in Rio.
Incoming UCLA freshman Maddie Musselman was the only Bruin that scored Thursday, but she tallied four goals, including two in the fourth quarter. The attacker out of Corona Del Mar High School has notched five goals so far in her Olympic debut.
Team USA’s defense has been nothing short of impenetrable in the group stage. On Tuesday, Spain’s shot percentage was a measly 19 percent. The Chinese didn’t fare any better, shooting just under 14 percent in the match.
At this rate, the Americans will allow less than half as many goals as it did in 2012 during the group stage. And that 2012 team won the gold medal despite some shoddy defense at times.
Team USA next plays on Saturday at 7:40 a.m. against Hungary, which is 1-1 in group play. The Hungarians edged China 13-11 in their first match but faltered against Spain on Thursday, losing 11-10.
Written by Kyle Cardoza, Daily Bruin reporter.
Women’s beach volleyball
Fendrick/Sweat (USA) vs. Birlova/Ukolova (Russia)
American beach volleyball duo Fendrick and Sweat crashed out of the Olympic competition after dropping its final group phase match against Russian pair Ekaterina Birlova and Evgenia Ukolova. Sweat and UCLA alumna Fendrick needed a victory to stave off elimination. The match never looked out of reach for either side, as the Russians claimed the first set 21-18 and the Americans evened the match by clinching a 26-24 second set victory. In the all-important third set, Fendrick and Sweat jumped out to an early advantage before losing out 15-13. The American pair were eliminated without a win in their three matches.
Written by Winston Bribach, Daily Bruin reporter.
Badminton
Mixed doubles – Chew/Subandhi (USA) vs. Ko/Kim (Korea)
Thursday was UCLA alumna Jamie Subandhi’s first Olympic badminton match, but she and her mixed doubles partner Phillip Chew could not keep up with the second-ranked team in the world, South Korea’s Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na. The South Koreans dominated in a 21-10, 21-12 straight sets victory, starting the match on a 7-0 run and winning 10 consecutive points in the second set on their way to the win. Chew and Subandhi’s next match is Friday against Japan’s Kenta Kazuno and Ayane Kurihara.
Written by Hanson Wang, Daily Bruin assistant Sports editor.
Women’s Singles – Wang (USA) vs. Tan (Belguim)
The U.S.’ lone badminton win belonged to UCLA’s Iris Wang, who defeated Belgium’s Lianne Tan 21-17, 20-22, 21-14. The match was tied 9-9 in the third set, but Wang came away with six of the next eight points to pull away from Tan. Wang’s next Group E match is Friday against Portugal’s Telma Santos, who lost to China’s Li Xuerui in straight sets Thursday.
Written by Hanson Wang, Daily Bruin assistant Sports editor.
Men’s volleyball
USA vs. Brazil
The USA men’s volleyball team is led by two UCLA alumni and one former coach. And thus far, the young squad has struggled.
But as every day is a new day, coaches John Speraw, Andrea Becker and Erik Sullivan led Team USA to upset Brazil in four sets 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 25-20.
Brazil had previously been undefeated, and with the United States’ victory, the host nation was denied a quarterfinal berth.
Serving has been a struggle for the facilities-hampered Americans but today, Matt Anderson was spot on.
This Olympic victory snaps a four-match losing streak for the U.S. against Brazil in international competition that stretches back to 2014.
Written by Grant Sugimara, Daily Bruin assistant Sports editor.