Thompson Paces U.S. Women to Sweep of France

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, June 11, 2024. – The U.S. Women’s National Team opened week 3 of the Volleyball Nations League preliminary round with a sweep (25-15, 26-24, 25-20) of France on Tuesday in Fukuoka, Japan.

The U.S. Women (5-4) will continue week 3 at 8 p.m. on Wednesday when they will play Netherlands (5-4). The U.S. is in seventh place in the standings and the top seven teams plus host Thailand advance to the Final Round on June 20-23.

U.S. opposite Jordan Thompson led all scorers against France with 20 points on a match-high 17 kills (.371 hitting efficiency), two aces and one block.

“I was really proud with how we stuck together as a team,” Thompson told Volleyball World. “We could obviously play more clean, but I was really happy we could win in three.”

The U.S. Women led France in kills (46-38) and aces (7-3). The U.S. scored 20 points on France’s errors and committed 12. France led in blocks (6-3).

After finishing the first set with eight errors, France cleaned up its play in the second set and led 18-16. The U.S. used a Thompson kill and ace from Larson to tie the score. At 20-20, the U.S. scored twice on a kill from Carlini and an attack from Thompson, but the teams were tied again at 23-23. The U.S. called timeout and France followed with a service error that gave the U.S. set point. A U.S. service error tied it at 24. Kills from Larson and Carlini gave the U.S. the set win.

The third set stayed close until the U.S. used a service run by Thompson to increase its lead from 7-6 to 10-6 and rolled to the match win.