US women's sitting volleyball team dominates host France

VILLEPINTE, France — The energy inside North Paris Arena was palpable from outside the venue.

It was just minutes before host country France was set to take on the U.S. in sitting volleyball. Chants rained from the stands as the first serve flew across the net — an ace from U.S. setter Alexis Shifflett-Patterson.

Even as the Americans piled on 28 aces and a flood of kills en route to a 3-0 sweep (25-5, 25-1, 25-5), the French fans stayed lively.

“I love it. I love when we play the host country because it's just surreal, just the chanting and the cheering, like the roar of it,” U.S. captain Monique Matthews said. “You just can't replace it or replicate it, and I just love it.”

The team knew what type of environment to expect heading into Sunday’s Pool A preliminary round game, needing no explanation from head coach Bill Hamiter.

Dealing with that environment brought energy to the Americans, not nerves. It is a veteran group looking for its third straight gold medal. Hamiter just offered the same simple message to his group: stay focused throughout the noise.

“We know that every team that we play is always going to give us their best game and it makes it exciting,” outside hitter Emma Schieck said. “We know it's never going to be an easy day. Playing with a crowd like this is, whether it's cheering for you or cheering against you, it is an absolute blast.”

Bouncing back after opening loss 

The U.S. sitting volleyball team found itself in a familiar place on Friday. It had just fallen to China to open the 2024 Paralympics.

It was the same result in 2020 and 2016 when the Americans faced off with China in the preliminary rounds. Both of those Paralympics ended with a gold medal for the U.S. after a defeat of China.

So heading into Sunday’s bounce-back opportunity against France, the Americans did just that.

“It's always good to come out and get a win after a loss, just to build the morale,” Matthews said. “Like we came off of that loss though, good spirits. We know that there's stuff we can work on to grow our game for the next time if we see them again in the finals. But it's just always great to have a win.”

The win was as dominant as they come. The French didn’t pick up a single ace on the night and only picked up 11 points while being swept. Schieck led the way for the U.S. with 11 kills while Matthews and Heather Erickson picked up 10.

There likely isn’t a better Listerine to wash out the taste of a loss than the style of victory the U.S. had on Sunday.

“That's a pretty resilient team,” Hamiter said. “They know how to put it behind and try to move on.”

The win in dominating fashion isn’t surprising for the Americans, ranked No. 3 in the World ParaVolley rankings. There are high expectations around the team in search of another medal.

Italy, ranked No. 7 in international play, still awaits the U.S. in pool play. The message moving forward no matter the opponent echoes what Hamiter told the team ahead of Sunday’s game: focus within.

The Americans can’t worry about what other teams are doing or how they may be playing, but the focus must remain on themselves. Great focus mixed with some consistency is the winning recipe for Hamiter’s veteran squad.

“It's hard, but we've been together for, I don't know, at least 10 years, the squad,” Matthews said. “So we're used to it. We're really good at coming together when we need to.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US women's sitting volleyball team beats France