5th World Deaf Volleyball Championships
June 19 – 30, 2024 in Tomigusuku City, Okinawa, Japan
We will be posting a daily recap of our daily activities along with some photos below, enjoy!
Day 11 (6/30): Medal Matches & Medal Ceremony
The Women’s team battled for the last time against Japan for the Gold Medal. We were able to keep up for most of the game and actually won a set, but it was evident that Japan’s level of play was on a different level. We were not able to get our passing game together which consequently couldn’t get our offense rolling. The Women’s lost 1-3 (17-25, 12-25, 26-24, 16-25) and we received the Silver Medal, a big accomplishment that our Women definitely will take as a lesson learned. USADVB is very proud of the hard work the Women’s team has put in since last May and hats off to Japan for winning the Gold Medal!
After the Women’s match, the Men’s took the court to play for the Bronze against Ukraine. We started the match with a great zeal and were able to go head to head with such a strong, veteran team in Ukraine. Unfortunately, they were able to clamp down and win the first set 22-25. After that, Ukraine dominated the entire match rhythm and we were not able to respond. We dropped the last two sets 15-25 and 14-25. Both teams have come a long way since tryouts in July 2023 and the progress both teams have made in this short time is incredible and we are very proud of them. We look forward to seeing their continued growth and future success!
After the matches concluded with Turkey defeating Italy for the Gold Medal, we had a medal ceremony to recognize all medal winners and individual awards. Our teams enjoyed meeting and interacting with other countries. Thank you for all of the support, reading all of our recaps, and following us on this incredible journey! USADVB gives our congratulations to all countries who participated, and many thanks to Japan, the Organizing Committee, and ICSD for a successful World Deaf Volleyball Championships and we look forward to the next one in 2027!
Day 10 (6/29): Men’s battle it out against Turkiye!
The Men’s semifinals showdown was a tough battle! We opened strong and caught Turkiye’s team off guard as our defense made significant blocks. We were able to smash through to get the first set 25-23! The team was feeling good but we were not able to match the intensity that the experienced Turkiye team brought in the second set. They took the set 14-25. As always, our youngsters responded in the 3rd set. We were able to go head to head with Turkiye, but once again, the experienced Turkiye team was able to clamp down and close out the set 23-25. They continued their roll in the 4th set and we were not able to keep up with their middles, losing the set 16-25. Somewhat similar from our first match, we showed flashes of potential but were not able to piece everything together for a complete game. However, we have our final chance tomorrow for the Bronze Medal! Our Men’s team will face Ukraine (Seeded #1 in Pool A), who had a shocking loss against Italy in the semifinals. The Bronze Medal match will take place tomorrow at 2:40 pm JST.
In the evening, both Women’s and Men’s teams had dinner together where Team Leaders Lynn Ray Boren and Cory Behm had a brief shoutout to recognize all of the hard work everyone has poured in to make this World Championships a very successful one for team USA. We could not be more proud of all athletes, coaches, and USADVB staff! We all are ready to cheer on the Women for the Gold tomorrow at 12:20 pm JST and then the Men for the Bronze at 2:40 pm JST. Tune in for the last time!
Day 9 (6/28): Women’s pull another upset vs Ukraine!
The USA Women’s team is here on business! Despite being the #4 seed after losing to Turkiye, the Women’s team showed up today full of fire from the get go. After the recent lineup change in the previous match, the Women’s team started the match today with the same line up. It was the recipe for success as Calista Wright, Kyla Waiters, and Brielle Worley attacked Ukraine from all different angles. Cassidy Perry and Jada Zarembka were able to focus on their blocking at the very start. Ukraine was evidently frustrated with the solid front wall. We took the first set 25-22. In the 2nd set, we were leading for most of the set but in the end, we were rattled with some calls that did not go in our favor and Ukraine was able to sneak in and take the set 23-25. In the third set, Ella Gamble’s sets were right on the money, allowing our hitters to become creative with their hits. From Calista’ high hits to Brielle’s powerful smashes and Cassidy’s aggressive slides, Ukraine was not able to keep up with our offense. After winning the 3rd set 25-19, the momentum was on our side and we started the 4th set with a big lead. Unfortunately, Calista Wright went down with an ankle injury in the 20’s and Citrine Lummer stepped in. Libero Leila Sicoli controlled our passing game and Jada Zarembka made some key blocks and we were able to close out the set 25-22. With this win, we will play against Japan for the Gold Medal match on Sunday 6/30 at 12:20 pm JST. This is the USA Women’s third in a row Gold Medal Match as we won Silver in 2012, Gold in 2016, (missed 2020 due to COVID). The Women’s team definitely has evolved into a different team from our first match on 6/23 and we are in for a great game!
The Men’s had an evening training session and a scouting team meeting. They are ready to rumble against Tukiye tomorrow at 4:00 pm JST. The winner of this match will head into the Gold medal match!
Day 8 (6/27): Men’s punch their ticket for their first-ever semifinals!
The Men’s team played in their quarterfinal against France today. The game got off to a slow start, but the team was able to build their momentum throughout the match, forcing the French to make many errors. After dropping the first set 22-25, we roared back and took the next three sets 25-23, 25-22, 25-17. The final set, we had several solo blocks and at that point, there was no way to stop our momentum. John Tatro led a fantastic balanced offense through our three strong pin hitters, Cullen Bradley, Josh Ratusny, and Chris Radomski, while Joey McInerney and Marty Boyd established our front defense, allowing our libero, Ryan Manoogian to keep the rally going from behind. Joey especially had a great game. Despite his recent change of position he has been a force at the net offensively and defensively. Furthermore, the atmosphere at the venue was awesome as we had many athletes’ families in attendance along with our Women’s team! Their spirit and cheers were very visible and felt throughout the match and we were able to do a brief interview with Cullen and his family after the match. Head towards our Instagram to hear all about their experiences! Hats off to everyone who made this a fun match to watch! A fun fact: this is the first time our Men’s team has advanced into the semifinals at the World Deaf Volleyball Championships. We are super proud of them!
The Men’s will have a rematch against Turkiye in the Semifinals on June 29 at 4:00 pm JST.
Tune in again tomorrow at 1:20 pm JST to watch the Women’s semifinal match against Ukraine!
Day 7 (6/26): Women’s secures #4 seed. Men’s ready to rumble tomorrow!
There were only two games today and both featured the four women’s teams vying for the top 4 seed. First, Ukraine played against Japan and they pulled a surprisingly dominant win, defeating the Japanese in straight sets. This meant that Ukraine clinched the #1 seed and Japan clinched the #2 seed. Our game against Turkiye was to determine the last two seeds. We were not able to start off on the right foot and Turkiye took the first set 13-25. We finally found our offense rhythm but our passing game kept us playing catch up in the 2nd set but could not match the hard hitting of Turkiye (20-25). In the 3rd set, Coach Ann decided to go with a brand new lineup, putting Kyla Waiters in the Opposite and Cassidy Perry in the middle. This big change sparked some life into us and we were able to barrage Turkiye with hard hits from everywhere. We took the 3rd set 25-23. We continued to struggle in our serving game and were never able to take the lead in the 4th set (21-25). With the loss, we secure the #4 seed and will play against Ukraine in the Semifinals on Friday (6/28) at 1:20 pm JST.
The Men’s had a training session in the morning and cheered on the Women’s team better than the Rockettes. Gotta love their spirit regardless the match result! They are ready for their Quarterfinal match against France tomorrow (6/27) at 1:20 pm JST. Please tune in and cheer them on!
Day 6 (6/25): Both teams win! Men's defeat India and Women’s beat Italy to clinch a spot in the knockouts.
Today got off to a great start as the Men’s team finally secured their first victory after sweeping India in straight sets (25-14, 25-18, 25-9). This was the first international victory for 9 out of 11 players. Check out our Instagram to hear Josh Ratusny’s experience after the victory. It definitely was a huge morale boost for the men! This concludes pool play for the Men’s and we are ranked third in Pool B. This means we will play against France, the 2nd seeded team from Pool A, in the Quarterfinals on 6/27 at 1:20 pm JST. The winner of this match will go on to play against Turkiye who automatically advances to Semifinals as Iran was a no-show. The Men’s will have the day off tomorrow and will have a training session to prepare for the Quarterfinals showdown.
The Women’s continued to improve and showed better composure and defeated Italy 3-1 (27-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-21). We opened the match pretty evenly and were able to gain a small lead but allowed Italy to catch up. We were able to hold off their comeback 27-25. At the start of the 2nd set, our mental mindset was not fully alert and this was evident as we made basic errors and lost our focus in the serve receive battle. After a reset, we were able to respond better in the 3rd set and closed them out in the 4th! Our opposite hitter, Calista Wright started the match after battling two days of illness. Check out her interview on Instagram! Tomorrow is the last day for pool play for the Women’s. We will play a crucial match against the reigning Gold medalists, Turkiye (2:40 pm JST). Japan will play against Ukraine tomorrow and the verdict from both matches will determine the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seed (Italy lost all of their games and are out of the knockouts).
Day 5 (6/24): Women's First Victory vs. Ukraine!
Today was a magnificent day for our Women’s team as they battled against powerhouses Ukraine. The match lasted more than two hours and USA came out with a 3-2 win (25-23, 14-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-10)! The team looked different from their match against Japan and our pin hitters paced our offense in the first set. Ukraine was able to settle down and their big blockers cooled our hitters. In the third set, we regrouped and started to get our momentum back but was not able to finish strong. Despite being down 2-1, the team did not seem fazed and their energy was constantly fueled by spectacular blocks and digs throughout the entire set. We also began to serve aggressively with confidence, allowing our middles to become more active offensively. In the 5th set, USA and Ukraine exchanged points back and forth until USA broke the tie after the 8th point. From there, we took control and closed out the set 15-10! The Women’s will play an important game against Italy tomorrow at 4:00 pm JST as the winner of this match would help in shaping the middle section of the knockout seeding.
The Men’s team were awesome fans during the Women’s match and during the match, they did an Instagram takeover so you can get to know them a bit more (check out our IG story)! Then in the afternoon, they had an energetic training session to be ready for their match against India tomorrow morning at 11:00 am JST.
Day 4 (6/23): Men's vs. Italy & Women's 1st Match vs Japan
This morning our Men’s team battled hard and faced a tough 3-0 loss against Italy (19-25, 19-25, 17-25). The team made some adjustments and was able to improve from their previous match. However, the Italians played very clean and were able to respond to everything we threw at them. The Men’s team will have the day off tomorrow to prepare for their next match against India on Tuesday at 11:00 am JST.
The Women’s finally had their first match against the host, Japan. We had 5 new starters and we were able to shine at certain moments during the match but was able to gain any traction and fell short (13-25, 19-25, 12-25). The team demonstrated great energy throughout the match and will regroup for their next match against Ukraine tomorrow morning at 10:00 am JST.
Day 3 (6/22): Rest Day & Preparation
Both Men’s and Women’s teams had their rest day today. Each had an hour and half long training session to prepare for their matches tomorrow. The Men’s will be heading into a crucial match against Italy tomorrow morning at 11:00 am JST. Italy cruised past India yesterday and with a win against Italy, we will have a better control of our knockout round seeding.
Earlier today, the Women’s team scouted Japan’s 3-0 defeat against Turkiye. The match gave the Women’s team a good insight on their upcoming match tomorrow against Japan at 1:20 pm JST (the match will be played after the Men’s match). All matches will be live streamed here.
Day 2 (6/21): First Match Men's vs Turkiye
The Men’s team battled out a great match against the defending gold medalists, Turkiye. Despite a great showing of our pin hitters, we fell 1-3 (15-25, 34-32, 15-25, 23-25). In the first set, the men’s team was not able to get in an offensive rhythm and the experienced Turkiye team was able to capitalize on that. However, the greatest thing about our team is that despite the first set loss, we kept fighting. Our stubborn youngsters persevered and our offense started to click along with many great defensive stops. The entire set was a back and forth affair and went beyond 25 points until we won 34-32! Turkiye was able to recollect themselves and take back control with a comfortable 3rd set win. However, it was a different story in the 4th set when we surged ahead for a strong lead at 20-13 but we were not able to hold onto the set and Turkiye was able to squeak out a win in the set 25-23 and take the match. Head Coach John Macko provided some comments afterwards the game. Check out all of the actions and Coach Macko’s interview on Instagram.
The Men’s team will have a day off tomorrow and will have a training session to prepare for their next match on 6/23 against Italy at 11:00 am JST.
The Women’s team came out and gave all of their support for the Men’s match. It was awesome to see how much both teams have grown close since tryouts in July 2023. The women had a training session today and will have another one tomorrow as well. The women’s competition kicks off tomorrow and since we are off on the first day, we definitely will be scouting our opponents!
Day 1 (6/20): Open Ceremony!
After a long travel day, we were greeted by a beautiful but humid day! Some of us strolled around the hotel and the beach nearby to stretch out our legs and absorb the sights of the pretty island!
The Men’s team had their first official training session in the late morning. They are preparing for their first official match against Turkey tomorrow (6/21) at 11:00 AM JST. Click here for the live stream link.
Then we all had lunch before departing for the Opening Ceremony. There was a total of seven countries present despite Iran backing out two days earlier. We watched numerous drum and Japanese Kata performances. Everyone was ready to get this World Championships started!
The Women’s team had an evening training session and they will continue to train until their first official match on Sunday, June 23!
Also, since Iran backed out, the men’s teams’ pooling was impacted which consequently impacted our schedule. While we are still hashing out the tweaks, please keep an eye out on our socials for the latest schedule changes!