After an emotional come-from-behind win last night against Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals, the U.S. women’s national volleyball team dropped a four-set match to Brazil 21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-10 in the Pan American Cup semifinals at San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The U.S. will face the loser between Cuba and the Dominican Republic semifinal played later tonight in the third-place match on Friday at 6 p.m. ET.

The U.S. led the first set 16-10 and cruised to the four-point victory to start the match. The Americans built a 16-12 advantage in the second set, only to see Brazil go on a 9-3 run to take a 21-19 lead en route to evening the match one set apiece.

After leading 8-6 in the third set, Brazil put some distance between it and the Americans with an 8-3 run to hit the second technical timeout ahead 16-9. Brazil stretched its lead to nine points at 21-12 and took a 2-1 set advantage by winning set three. Brazil took an early 8-5 lead in the fourth set, then dominated the rest of the match by scoring 17 of the last 22 points.

Katherine Wilkins (Lakeside, Calif.) led the U.S. with 15 points, while Tayyiba Haneef (Laguna Hills, Calif.) added 14 points in the loss. Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) charted 11 points for Team USA. Jennifer Joines (Milpitas, Calif.) tacked on seven points and produced the team’s highest W-L point total of six.

Brazil was led by Fabiana Claudino, who was nearly unstoppable hitting 88 percent with 15 kills on 17 errorless swings, three blocks and a match-high 18 points. Marianne Steinbrec contributed 14 points for the Brazilians, while Joyce Silva and Valeska Menezes added 11 points apiece.

The U.S. is currently ranked fifth in the FIVB world rankings, while Brazil is ranked second.

Brazil also won the last meeting with the U.S. (25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 27-25) in last year’s Pan American Cup third-place match on June 18.

The U.S. has qualified for the 2007 World Grand Prix by being one of the top three teams from NORCECA in the Pan American Cup.

The U.S. finished second in Pool B of the tournament with a 4-1 record. Brazil finished in a three-way tie for first in Pool A, but won the tie-breaking procedure to earn the group's top seed.

Both Brazil and Cuba advanced directly to the semifinals as the champions of Pool A and B, respectively. Cuba faces Dominican Republic, a rematch of last year’s Pan American Cup championship match, in the second semifinal on July 6 at 8 p.m.

Earlier today, Canada defeated Venezuela in five sets for seventh place. Puerto Rico, which lost a five-set match to the U.S. Wednesday night in the quarterfinals, swept Peru for fifth place in the final Pan American Cup standings.

For match statistics, please go to http://www.usavolleyball.org/National/wstats.asp.  

For additional information on the tournament, go to: www.norceca.org/endex.htm or www.norceca.org/V%20Panamerican%20Women´s%20Cup_2006.htm.

For more information on USA Volleyball, go to: www.usavolleyball.org

* Heather Bown (Yorba Linda, Calif.) hit .780 during pool play with 39 kills on 50 attacks without committing a single hitting error.

* Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) led the U.S. in points per set with a 3.93 average. She tallied 50 kills, six blocks, three aces and 59 total points. Metcalf reached double-figure points in four of the five matches. She tallied seven kills on nine errorless swings with one block in two sets against Argentina in her only match without at least 10 points.

* Katie Wilkins (Lakeside, Calif.) averaged 3.56 points per set the U.S. in the five pool play matches. She recorded 12 aces in 16 sets for a 0.75 ace average.

* Jennifer Joines (Milpitas, Calif.) hit .553 during pool play. She tallied 28 kills on 47 swings with just two hitting errors.

* Tayyiba Haneef (Laguna Hills, Calif.) was credited with 3.5 points per set in 14 sets during pool play action. As part of her point production, she averaged 0.64 aces per set.

* Katie Wilkins, Jennifer Joines and Candace Lee (Eugene, Ore.) were the only U.S. players to have played in all 16 sets of pool play for the Americans.

USA Women's National Team Roster for Pan American Cup
3 – Tayyiba Haneef (OH, 6-7, Laguna Hills, Calif.)
5 – Sarah Drury (L, 5-5, Louisville, Ky.)
6 – Elisabeth Bachman (MB, 6-3, Lakeville, Minn.)
7 – Heather Bown (MB, 6-3, Yorba Linda, Calif.)
8 – Katie Wilkins (OH, 6-4, Lakeside, Calif.)
9 – Jennifer Joines (MB, 6-3, Milpitas, Calif.)
10 – Jane Collymore (OH, 6-0, Englewood, Colo.)
11 – Robyn Ah Mow-Santos (S, 5-9, Honolulu, Hawai'i)
12 – Nancy Metcalf (OPP, 6-1, Hull, Iowa)
14 – Candace Lee (L, 5-7, Eugene, Ore.)
16 – Sam Tortorello (S, 5-11, Shorewood, Ill.)
18 – Cassie Busse (OPP, 6-1, Prior Lake, Minn.)

USA Pool B Matches
June 29: def. Peru 25-18, 25-17, 25-20
June 30: def. Argentina 25-9, 25-14, 25-12
July 1: def. Barbados 25-8, 25-17, 25-11
July 2: lost to Cuba 27-25, 25-22, 20-25, 26-24
July 3: def. Venezuela 26-24, 25-20, 25-14

Pan Am Cup Pools
A: Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico
B: Argentina, Barbados, Cuba, Peru, USA, Venezuela

Final Pool Standings
Pool A
Brazil 4-1
Dominican Republic 4-1
Puerto Rico 4-1
Canada 2-3
Mexico 1-4
Costa Rica 0-5

Pool B
Cuba 5-0
United States 4-1
Peru 3-2
Venezuela 2-3
Argentina 1-4
Barbados 0-5

Pan American Cup Schedule
June 29
USA def. Peru 25-18-25-17, 25-20
Cuba def. Argentina 25-19, 25-12, 25-16
Brazil def. Dominican Republic 25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 25-19
Puerto Rico def. Mexico 18-25, 25-14, 25-18, 25-19
Venezuela def. Barbados 25-10, 25-20, 25-7
Canada def. Costa Rica 25-15, 25-20, 25-6

June 30
Peru def. Venezuela 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21
Brazil def. Mexico 25-8, 25-12, 25-19
USA vs. Argentina 25-9, 25-14, 25-12
Puerto Rico def. Canada 23-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-25
Cuba def. Barbados 25-7, 25-22, 25-9
Dominican Republic def. Costa Rica 25-12, 25-11, 25-19

July 1
Peru def. Argentina 25-20, 25-18, 29-31, 25-21
Cuba def. Venezuela 25-16, 25-17, 25-21
Dominican Republic def. Canada 26-24, 18-25, 25-13, 25-22
Puerto Rico def. Brazil 19-25, 25-20, 25-22, 18-25, 15-13
USA def. Barbados 25-8, 25-17, 25-11
Mexico def. Costa Rica 22-25, 25-21, 25-18, 25-16

July 2
Venezuela def. Argentina 22-25, 25-21, 25-15, 23-25, 15-10
Brazil def. Canada 25-22, 25-21, 25-12
Puerto Rico def. Costa Rica 25-14, 25-20, 25-11
Cuba def. USA 27-25, 25-22, 20-25, 26-24
Peru def. Barbados 25-18, 25-17, 25-21
Dominican Republic def. Mexico 25-17, 25-16, 27-25

July 3
Canada def. Mexico 25-14, 25-19, 25-16
USA def. Venezuela 26-24, 25-20, 25-14
Cuba def. Peru 25-15, 25-20, 25-19
Dominican Republic def. Puerto Rico 25-19, 29-27, 25-20
Argentina def. Barbados 25-13, 25-6, 25-19
Brazil def. Costa Rica 25-13, 25-13, 25-16

July 5 – Consolations
Costa Rica def. Barbados 25-19, 25-16, 25-15 (11th/12th-place match)
Mexico def. Argentina 25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 25-14 (9th/10th-place match)

July 5 - Quarterfinals
Dominican Republic def. Peru 25-21, 25-18, 25-13
U.S. def. Puerto Rico 23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-8

July 6 – Consolation Bracket
Canada def. Venezuela 25-17, 25-21, 21-25, 20-25, 19-17 (7th/8th-place match)
Puerto Rico def. Peru 25-14, 25-22, 25-22 (5th/6th-place match)

July 6 - Semifinals
Brazil def. U.S. 21-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-10
Cuba vs. Dominican Republic, 8 p.m. ET

July 7 – Consolation Bracket
U.S. vs. Cuba/Dominican Republic loser, 6 p.m. ET (3rd/4th-place match)

July 7
Brazil vs. Cuba/Dominican Republic winner, 8 p.m. ET