USA Women 4th in Perth

01.28.2024

The USA women capped off the Perth SVNS with their second-straight fourth-place finish.

It was an interesting tournament in which the Eagles put in a ton of effort and worked hard to win the collision battle. They fixed their poor passing mid-tournament, which is difficult to do.

"The women’s game just continues to elevate, every competition," said USA Head Coach Emilie Bydwell. "Teams are here for it this season and every team can beat us on a given day, and we can beat any team. Momentum means next to nothing game to game in sevens and we need to be prepared to deliver effort, compete, play to our identity and really elevate in every game. We showed some great positives that we have been working hard at on the home front, and then some inconsistencies that are still to be addressed."

Inconsistencies for sure and one of the frustrating things for the USA was that they had attacking movements that were really promising against the top teams such as New Zealand and Australia, only to get stopped, and often turned over, at the last minute.

Could fitness be an issue? Certainly the players worked hard, but looking at how gassed some of those players were after games, one wonders if whether the travel from San Diego to Perth, or the heat, or overall conditioning sapped their energy. This showed itself on long periods of defense, and also when those attacking movements didn't quite get finished off.

Meanwhile, their quarterfinal defeat of France was brilliant and a step forward in the USA's every-present struggle to keep the French at bay. They were well beaten by Australia and Great Britain, and with Australia it was an issue of just flat being unable to stop the hosts once they got good ball.

"Whether it’s flooding support lanes or being there to secure possession, digging deeper to switch into that next gear to finish, or nailing that last pass—these are the details that make the difference when every team is competing so hard to win," said Bydwell. "These moments need to give us the confidence that we are creating opportunities and fuel our desire to refine the detail so that we capitalize more consistently.”

The Eagles are now 5th in the World Series. The top eight go into the final tournament in Madris. There are four more tournaments before then, including SVNS LAX Mach 1-3 at Dignity Health Sports Park.

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