Serbia played their best match in Rio against USA, one of the best teams in the world and the GOLD medal favorite after Brazil lost to China, to advance to the gold medal match for the very first time!
Despite the loss, Coach Kiraly, Christa Dietzen and Team remain united to play for the bronze medal against China/The Netherlands. Here’s what they said during the post match press conference.
“Right now, this loss is deeply disappointing. It cuts deep, it’s very painful. And that’s okay. When you care that much it’s going to. We get some time to grieve… We’re going to come back harder in 48 hours to fight for a bronze medal.” -Coach Karch Kiraly
“This one stings, for sure. But we had a great example set for us. Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross responded well after their semifinal loss. For the next hour, there’s some grieving. But we’re going after the bronze. That’s the next goal.” -Christa Dietzen
“We left everything out there. That’s all you can do.” -Jordan Larson
“We fought really hard and obviously it hurts that we couldn’t push a little more. It’s the journey that matters, not the result.” -Kayla Banwarth
As for the bronze medal match on Saturday…
“Lean on each other – that’s all we got. We came together, we have to do it together. That’s how we’re going to leave.” -Jordan Larson.
As for the future of the Team after Rio…
“We’ve built something special over the years. This program has a history. Top finishes at the international level. There’s one thing we want to accomplish. It’s not going to happen this month. I don’t know if it’ll happen four years from now or 52 years from now, but our job is to make an Olympic gold medal for the U.S. program. And the fight continues.” -Karch Kiraly.
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