Olympic volleyball results 2016: U.S. women upset by Serbia in semifinals

The Americans led 12-10 in the fifth set when Karsta Lowe served into the net, then Milena Rasic answered with an ace and US middle blocker Rachael Adams also netted her serve.

The U.S. had beaten Serbia 3-1 in preliminary games and were favorites to take their first gold medal in women’s volleyball. “It cuts deep. It’s very painful, and that’s OK”, U.S. coach Karch Kiraly said.

Serbia beat the United States of America 20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 15-13 in the semifinals Thursday afternoon at the Maracanazinho Stadium.

Akinradewo’s teammates stepped up to fill the void after she hurt her left knee late in the opening set.

Kiraly could not say whether or not Akinradewo would be available for the bronze medal match, saying all he knows is that the injury is “to one of her legs”. “I think we need more time to be aware of what we did, but we gave our heart”. We made it. This is history. Late in the fifth set, US middle blocker Rachael Adams committed a service fault to hand Serbia match point and the eventual victory. This comes on the heels of the women’s beach volleyball also losing key semifinal matches and settling for bronze.

Two-time defending Olympic champion Brazil was ousted in a five-setter by China in the quarterfinals.

It was a sad outcome to a USA team that has risen steadily to become the world’s best and had the gold medal finally within grasp. Serbia will take on the victor of Netherlands and China in the gold medal match on Saturday night, and the Americans will get the loser in the bronze medal match at noon ET on Saturday.

Then the wheels fell off, as Serbia took the next two sets 25-17 and 25-21.

“Serbia was doing a nice job with creating problems for us”, Kiraly said.