U.S. women’s team earns volleyball berth for Tokyo Olympics

The U.S. women’s volleyball team secured its berth to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, beating Argentina in straight sets Sunday at a Qualification Tournament in Bossier City, La.

Coach Karch Kiraly’s third-ranked Americans went unbeaten in Pool C of qualifying this weekend, rallying from a set down and again from a 2-1 deficit Saturday night to beat 16th-ranked Bulgaria before a 25-22, 25-17, 25-13 victory over No. 11 Argentina.

The U.S. has never won an Olympic gold medal in the sport, capturing bronze in the Rio Games three years ago. Now, the Americans have qualified a year out — a different path than during the last Olympic cycle when they had to win a second qualifying event in January 2016 at Lincoln, Nebraska, after missing out with two losses at the 2015 World Cup in Japan as just the top two teams from that event secured bids then to Rio.

The deep U.S. squad has some familiar Olympic veterans such as Jordan Larson, Kelsey Robinson and Kim Hill along with a mix of young players.

“We can be really proud with how we fought through here, especially the challenge that Bulgaria threw at us down two sets to one and the nice response we put together,” Kiraly said. “This is huge for the program. Everybody knows that we are going to Tokyo. We got that ticket locked in. We worked really hard for that this year. That helps in the planning, and it makes it that much closer in the distance. It is not that much distance to Tokyo.”

SURFING: Peru’s Lucca Mesinas and Daniella Rosas won gold in their finals at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, and a likely ticket to the Olympics. International Surfing Association longboard world champion Benoit “Piccolo” Clemente, also from Peru, won the men’s longboard final.

Brazil’s Chloe Calmon took gold in women’s longboard. The final spots won’t be announced until May after the ISA World Surfing Games.