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Things in Taylor Averill’s first Olympics quarterfinals were not going the best.
The former Hawai’i middle attacker was hitting in the negative through three games against Brazil. Then it all turned around for the final game.
Averill had both a game-high five kills with no errors and two blocks in the fourth game as the United States defeated Brazil 26-24, 28-30, 25-19, 25-19 on Monday in Paris to advance to the semifinals.
The first-time Olympian with the United States leading 18-16 in the final game delivered a block that jump started a 7-3 tun to close out the match. Averill during that run also added another block and had two kills, including the match-winning kill.
The United States in the victory out-hit Brazil .395 to .279 and had three players with double-digit kills.
Opposite Matt Anderson led all players with 17 kills on a .536 attack percentage. The former Penn State All-American had a combined 10 kills and one error in the final two games to help the United States remain undefeated in the Olympics.
Former Long Beach State outside attacker TJ DeFalco added 15 kills and hit .357. In addition, DeFalco in the first game led all players with five kills as the United States rallied from a five-point deficit to win the game.
Outside attacker Aaron Russell also had 11 kills on a .360 attack percentage, while middle attacker Max Holt contributed nine kills and zero errors on a .692 attack percentage.
Pin-hitter Alan Souza in the loss had a team-high 14 kills.
Ricardo Lucarelli Souza added 12 kills and had a game-high six kills in the second game. Brazil overcame a six-point deficit and fought off three game-points before winning the second game in overtime to even the match.
This is the fourth time since 2000 that the United States has advanced to the Olympics semifinals. The team last reached the semifinals in 2016 en route to winning the bronze medal.
The United States with this victory will play Poland in the semifinals on Wednesday. The No. 6 seed Poland upset the No. 3 seed Slovenia in four games in its quarterfinals match on Monday.