U.S. women win first major volleyball title at world championships

By foxsports
Published

MILAN -- Kimberly Hill led the United States to its first major women's volleyball title, scoring 20 points in a 3-1 victory over China on Sunday in the world championships.

Hill had the final kill, and captain Christa Dietzen added 15 points in the Americans' 27-25, 25-20, 16-25, 26-24 victory before 12,600 fans at the Mediolanum Forum.

''We came here to make history and we made it,'' said U.S. coach Karch Kiraly, a three-time Olympic champion. ''It was a tough battle, but we made it.''

The U.S. women had never won the world championships, World Cup or Olympics.

''It's the first time for the USA and we made it,'' Dietzen said. ''We represented present and future volleyball programs, but most importantly we did it together.''

The Americans finished second in 1967 and 2002.

In Saturday's semifinals, the U.S. stunned top-ranked Olympic champion Brazil 3-0.

Brazil beat Italy 25-15, 25-13, 22-25, 22-25, 15-7 in the bronze-medal match.